DENVER – The sudden cooler temps might have you in the mood to venture out into Colorado’s high country this weekend to try and catch an early glimpse of the fall colors – which might be wise over the next couple of weeks – as it appears this year’s leaves will change to their brilliant yellows, oranges and reds quicker than in previous years.
Denver7 meteorologist Stacey Donaldson is tracking potential locations in Colorado.
“If you are going to be making the trip up this weekend to see what colors are changing – especially along the I-70 corridor as you get closer to Georgetown and the Eisenhower Tunnel – you'll see some color up that way,” said Donaldson.
Areas of low color are starting to show in areas around Guanella Pass, Aspen, Fair Play, Steamboat Springs and Yampa, according to explorefall.com.
Over the next couple of weeks, areas of moderate to high colors are expected to show in Colorado’s mountains, but as for this Saturday and Sunday, just low color conditions.
“As we get into the next couple of weeks, we'll start to see moderate and high color showing up, especially throughout the northern areas. And then once we get into October, that's where we see southern Colorado seeing those changes take place,” added Donaldson.
COLORADO FALL COLORS FORECAST | AS OF FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 5
Explorefall.com’s forecast tool predicts broad areas of low color across Colorado’s Northern, Central and Southern mountains through midweek with the first spot of moderate color showing on the map southwest of Aspen by September 10.
By the weekend of September 12-13, moderate color spreads across the Elk Mountains, which are expected to show peak colors by September 17, according to explorefall.com.
Also that weekend, a large swath of the high country is expected to change to low color. The following weekend on September 19-20, much of the High Country has shifted to moderate color with areas of high-to-peak colors, especially in the state’s Central mountains.
If you’re curious when the leaves on trees closer into the Denver area will change over, explorefall.com’s forecast map shows low color appearing during the last week of September with most of the change happening in the metro the second and third week of October.
“And then once we get into October, that's where we see southern Colorado seeing those changes take place,” said Donaldson.
If you’re planning a trip this weekend, she said temperatures will be mostly mild.
“If you happen to be taking a trip up into the high country just to check out what's changing, temperatures will be in the 70s both Saturday and Sunday and we'll have chances for afternoon thunderstorms,” said Donaldson.
If you're looking for ideas on where to spend a weekend in Colorado checking out the fall colors, you can join Denver7's 'Discover Colorado Through Your Photos' Facebook group to see hundreds of photos from previous years.
You can also check out this Facebook group for the latest report of where the colors are changing in Colorado.
- To get you excited about what's the come, you can check out this video below of 15 minutes of beautiful fall colors in the Centennial State.
