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KIRKSVILLE, MO -- The days are getting shorter and mornings are getting cooler. It won’t be long until the trees are full of brilliant fall colors. Or will they? That’s the topic for Friday’s Facebook Story of The Week.

Trees contain cells that create food called chlorophyll, absorbing energy from the sun to turn water and carbon dioxide into sugars and starches thus feeding the tree.

During falls shorter days and cooler nights, that means less energy for food making and a breakdown of chlorophyll. Turning leaves from green into rich fall colors.

However, there are many other variables that can impact fall colors.

“If we get a really cold snap too early, that kills the leaves. Obviously, they aren’t going to be producing those pigments and sugars during the day so we won't get quite the color. Often times we will get no color. The brown we see is actually from the chlorophyll wall when all the pigment is removed so if we kill that lead early it's going to show that color earlier on,” Missouri Department of Conservation Resource Forester Cody Smith said.

Foresters with the Missouri Department of Conservations report that many trees already have shed some or all of their leaves in response to this year’s historic drought. However, they say it isn’t too late for trees that still have live leaves to develop the vivid colors that make the Heartland so beautiful in the fall, thanks to recent rains.

“We may see some of the trees go ahead and have some fall color as a result of recent rains. You also are likely to see some people who have taken care of their trees throughout the summer drought period with a little watering have a little more fall color as well. Those who have done a little bit of maintenance,” said Smith.

The break in the drought with recent rains came just in time for some trees. Fall colors usually develop across southeast Iowa in early October and spread to northeast Missouri as the month progresses. The peak of colors usually occurs in the middle of October.

This year, because of the drought, things are likely to occur a little bit earlier with some trees even blooming, thinking it’s spring.

“This year we are really going to see a funny situation. The southern part of the area has been almost going into fall dormancy since the middle of the summer and now we are seeing it kind of pick back up with some growth, so there are going to be a few weird things happen this year,” said Smith.

Despite the harsh conditions experienced this summer, there will still be some nice colors around, but you may just have to drive to see them.

The Missouri Department of conservation collects fall-color reports from foresters around the state and assembles them into a weekly report on their website at http://mdc.mo.gov/.