We've seen a record amount of rainfall across Kentuckiana this September and we're on track to set a record for the entire year! All of this rain has many folks asking - what does that mean for our leaves changing colors this fall? Will more rain make our colors more vibrant? We're putting that theory to the "verify" test!
To find out if this excess rain will help our fall foliage, I went straight to the experts at Bernheim Forest for some answers. Casey Hammett, Horticulturist at Bernheim says, "Basically rainfall totals do not determine the vividness of the fall colors."
ANIMATION: Fall foliage throughout October
So if you're hoping that all of this rain we've endured will make our leaves *MORE* colorful - the answer is NO. Hammett explains, "That leaf that you see already has yellows, oranges, purples, and reds in them, but during the summertime you have the chlorophyll that produces the green leaves and as the days start to shorten the chlorophyll slowly starts to fade and that's when the yellows and the oranges and the reds start to show themselves."
RELATED | Fall Foliage Prediction Map
The changing colors depend more on our temperatures and day length, but the good news is that we should still see plenty of beautiful fall foliage once we get a little further into the fall season.
Our leaves here in Kentuckiana should peak near the end of October into early November.
►Contact meteorologist Kaitlynn Fish at kfish@whas11.com. Follow him on Twitter (@KaitlynnFish), Facebook and Instagram.
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