Fall colors starting to show in Utah, but this season may not be as vibrant

SALT LAKE CITY — Every fall, the show starts slowly. A hint of gold here. A streak of orange there. But even in its earliest acts, it’s enough to make you pause and take it all in. “Well, I mean, fall is just such a beautiful time of year,” said Katie Wagner, a horticulturist with Utah State University Extension. It is so beautiful, in fact, that going to see the colors is a tradition for many Utahns. “There are infamous canyons and places where people go and they call it leaf peeping,” said Wagner. “Yeah. So they go and they peep at the leaves.” But this year, Wagner said those leaf peepers might not see quite as much. “We probably are not looking at as vibrant of a fall color season as we’ve seen in some other past years,” she said. “And it’s because of our moisture levels. We had a fairly dry winter. We had a fairly dry spring. We’ve had a very, very dry summer.” It’s been so dry that a lot of leaves are already showing what’s called “marginal leaf burn.”“This was just a leaf having a hard time fully hydrating out its entire leaf blade,” explained Wagner while holding a green leaf that is crispy and brown along the edges. “There is some necrosis at the edges where it wasn’t staying hydrated down to the tips of the margins here.” Even still, beauty has a way of showing up anyway. Already, in Cascade Springs on the Alpine Loop, Parley’s Canyon and even in Provo Canyon, the colors are beginning to emerge. [gallery ids="812680,812682,812681,812679,812683"] “Really, what triggers that for the most part, is the shortened days and the longer nights,” said Wagner. The colors might not be as bright or as bold this season, but it is still enough to remind us of why we love fall in Utah. “That’s just kind of a really special thing about this time of year,” said Wagner. “There will be some colors so go and enjoy them.”

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