Even with the recent rain that much of the western Pennsylvania area has received over the last few days, the drought conditions for most of the summer could mean trouble when it comes to beautiful fall foliage.
According to forestry experts with Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences, the months of lacking sufficient rainfall could result in early coloration followed by browning and leaf fall in early autumn.
However, experts admit that there are many random elements that factor into fall leaf coloring that scientists do not really understand so if regular precipitation is able to continue, we could still end up with a great display.
Cooler temperatures signal to deciduous trees to stop producing chlorophyll which is the green pigment responsible for photosynthesis. Once that chemical disappears, other more colorful leaf pigments are visable.