Drought could take the brilliance out of Minnesota's fall colors, DNR says
Minnesota's fall colors are close, and the state says a summer of heat and drought will show up in them, albeit subtly.
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources kicked off its fall color season this week with a 2026 forecast, its Fall Color Finder map and a weekly newsletter. The first edition of the weekly fall color report goes live Thursday at mndnr.gov/fallcolor, and updates every Thursday through the end of October.
Color in Minnesota typically peaks from late September through mid-October, starting in the far northwest and north-central parts of the state and working toward the southeast. Peak usually lasts about a week in any one area, though that varies with location and weather.
Day length and falling temperatures are the strongest drivers. The drought across much of the state is a smaller factor, but not a neutral one.
"Severe drought can lessen the brilliance of some colors," said Brian Schwingle, DNR forest health program consultant. "It can also cause some trees to drop their leaves or change colors early — or later, depending on the species."
Warmer September temperatures can slightly delay peak color, Schwingle said, as happened during the 2023 drought year. The DNR also said some trees have already been dropping leaves for at least a month.
The Twin Cities just recorded their sixth-hottest summer in more than 150 years of records, and one of their driest. More than half the state was in at least severe drought as of early September, with the severe and extreme categories expanding southeast of the metro and across west-central Minnesota. Nearly two weeks ago, the state climatologist said the current drought was competing with 2021's for severity, and stressed trees were already visible around the Twin Cities.
The season ahead is leaning warm. Before fall began, the Climate Prediction Center favored above-average temperatures, and DNR climatologist Kenny Blumenfeld noted that recent Septembers and Octobers have broken temperature records in Minnesota.
The Fall Color Finder tracks color change with color-coded maps and leaf reports from individual state parks and recreation areas — more than 70 of them. A date slider shows what colors have typically looked like statewide on a given date, based on past years. Readers can subscribe to the weekly Fall Color Update newsletter or submit their own state park photos through the same page.
Fall is also a growing draw for the state's tourism industry. Lauren Bennett McGinty, executive director of Explore Minnesota, called it possibly Minnesota's "most underrated travel season," pointing to cooler weather, color and a full festival calendar between late September and mid-October, a stretch many tourism businesses now count on to extend the summer.
