Fall foliage colors have begun to pop early around F.A. Seiberling Nature Realm, Sept. 18, 2025, in Akron, Ohio.

Mid-October has arrived, and although foliage in some parts of the U.S. are just beginning to display the vibrant colors of fall, foliage in other parts of the country hasn’t been as colorful as normal.

Experts at AccuWeather in early September predicted muted fall colors in their 2025 fall foliage forecast, calling for vivid fall colors across parts of 25 states, and dull fall foliage across 23 states.

The best conditions for vibrant fall foliage consist of steady rainfall in the spring and summer, sunny afternoons and cool nights in the early fall, and minimal disruption from bugs, drought, and wind, the experts said.

This year, a significant lack of rain in August and a lack of cooler temperatures were two factors that put stress on trees, causing them to “shut down early," Paul Pastelok, long-range forecaster at AccuWeather, told USA TODAY on Oct. 15.

In an effort to prevent more damage, trees form an abscission layer between their branches and leaves, preventing water and nutrients from getting to the leaves, Pastelok said. This also halts the tree’s production of chlorophyll, the substance that gives leaves their green color.

“(If) it's too warm outside and the weather conditions are not right just yet, a lot of times they'll end up getting dull colors or end up falling off the tree,” said Pastelok, adding that this happened in parts of the Northeast in early September.

Here’s more on which hot spots to check out for fall foliage this time of year, and why colors in some parts of the U.S. aren’t as vibrant as other areas.

Where to go for fall colors: See map

Pastelok said areas such as the Adirondack Mountains in New York are reaching peak coloring.

Areas to visit in the next week or two include the Catskill and Berkshire mountains, as well as parts of northern Pennsylvania, the upper Midwest, as well as the central Rockies.

“This is the best time before the snow in the West starts to take over and the season starts to wind down a little bit,” he said.

Warm temperatures prevent ‘brighter reds and oranges’ of fall from popping out, expert says

Areas with muted fall colors are mostly in the eastern U.S., Pastelok told USA TODAY.

“The drought really was more significant in parts of southern Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Maryland and then the Ohio Valley has been pretty hit hard as well,” he said. “Those three states have been hit the worst.”

One factor that has led to muted fall coloring in these areas is warmer temperatures. Cooler nights allow trees to produce sugars in their leaves that “bring out those brighter reds and oranges,” of fall.

“You want more daylight and sunshine in September and cooler nights,” he said. “That's one of the perfect setups to have great fall foliage going into the fall.”

Because the nights were warmer in the northeastern U.S., leaf-peepers and nature photographers were more likely to see green, yellow, and orange instead of brighter colors this season.

“The only places in the Northeast that have been pretty good, despite where the drier conditions are, is parts of central, northern New England,” he said.

Experts are researching the drought to figure out what happened

According to Pastelok, forecasters weren’t expecting August to be as dry as it was.

Climate experts knew there would be some dry portions of the year, including July. However, based on past weather patterns, experts thought the tropics would bring rainfall in August that would balance out that dryness, he said.

While parts of the East Coast did see some moisture due to storms in the Atlantic, interior parts of the eastern U.S. like western Pennsylvania, West Virginia and western Maryland missed out on that during the late summer and early fall, he said.

There has also been the issue of winds knocking down leaves before they can change colors in areas such as Long Island, New York, Connecticut and New Jersey, Pastelok said.

“The more sun we have and the cooler the nights, the better the full foliage is going to look and that's just not the Northeast, that's Midwest, that's also the Rockies,” he said.

Those wanting to find out where they can see the most vibrant fall foliage colors this season can visit Smokymountains.com or AccuWeather.com.

Saleen Martin is a reporter on USA TODAY's NOW team. She is from Norfolk, Virginia – the 757. Email her at sdmartin@usatoday.com.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Where to see peak fall foliage in mid-October, and why colors are muted for some

Reporting by Saleen Martin and Janet Loehrke, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect