Fall foliage in Michigan

Michigan’s season begins in the Upper Peninsula and takes most of a month to reach the southern counties. The Keweenaw, Pictured Rocks and the Porcupine Mountains turn in the first half of October; the Straits and the Tunnel of Trees follow in the third week; Sleeping Bear, Traverse City and the northern Lower Peninsula peak in the last days of the month, and the southern counties finish in early November. Sugar maple, aspen and birch carry the north in red and gold; oaks and hickories take over southward. The lakeshores generally run a few days behind the inland woods.

Those are the months when color is present somewhere in Michigan, from its highest ground to its lowest. Any one location changes over a much shorter period than that.

Why the timing shifts from year to year

Shortening days start the process, so most places in Michigan change at close to their usual time each year. Within the state, elevation and latitude account for most of the difference: higher and more northern ground generally changes first, and lower, sheltered ground last. Weather has more effect on how strong the color is than on when it appears. Cool nights and sunny days favor the reds, a dry summer mutes them, and a hard freeze or a windstorm can strip a slope in a day. What determines the timing goes through this in detail.

Nearby states

Fall color does not follow state lines. Michigan borders:

• Indiana fall foliage
• Ohio fall foliage
• Wisconsin fall foliage

Timing for a specific place

This page describes a whole state, which is about as precise as a season can be described in words. Conditions at one overlook on one weekend are a narrower question, and that is the one Fallcast answers: an expected period of color for a specific location, with a confidence attached, updated through the season as the trees change. It is coming to iPhone this fall.

Questions, or somewhere in Michigan you would like covered? Write to fallcastapp@gmail.com.