CLEVELAND — It's that time of year in Northeast Ohio when the temperatures are dropping, and so are the leaves.
"I absolutely love autumn," said Amber Walden, a Naturalist with Cleveland Metroparks. "We’re super fortunate right here in Northeast Ohio because the climate we have around here really produces brilliant fall colors."
This is a beautiful reminder to put away the bathing suits and bring out those puffy coats and boots.
"This year, it almost seems like the colors are popping a little bit later than we typically see, and they're gonna hang on a little bit longer, and that probably has to do with a little bit of the drought that we had throughout the summer," said Walden. "We didn't have as much rainfall and we've had some pretty warm autumn days. We haven't really had any freezing nights so far, so colors are really hanging on."
Walden said there's no exact formula to finding out when the fall foliage peaks.
"Because we aren’t trees ourselves, we can’t really communicate with them too well to have them tell us when they’re changing," Walden joked.
She did go on to explain why certain years are better than others and what makes the climate in Northeast Ohio unique for leaf-peeping opportunities.
"I think there's a number of factors that are at play here in Northeast Ohio. We're really fortunate that especially here in Cleveland, we're right along the lake line, and if you know anything about lake effect, you know that we have very different climates that come through here all the time," Walden said. "I think a lot of what we're seeing and what makes this area so special and the vibrancy of the colors that we're gonna see is because we're right here by the lake and those different changes that come across there."