DES MOINES, Iowa — It’s almost time to say goodbye to the green leaves and hello to the red, yellow, and orange hues of autumn in Central Iowa.

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources breaks down the state into three sections when describing fall — Northern, Central, and Southern.

Northern Iowa is at its peak right now with fall colors. Central Iowa is projected to reach its peak next week. Colored leaves are expected to fill the area as early as Sunday. And Southern Iowa is expected to reach its fall color peak starting October 16th.

Chip Murrow is an Urban Forestry Program Specialist with DNR. He said that weather conditions throughout the season can impact how much of fall colors we see.

Murrow said, “What we’re seeing is we’re getting some, instead of getting fall colors, the leaves are leaving the tree a little early. There’s also some thought that you might not have, the pop that we normally do. We’re still going to have fall color, just not the brilliant color.”

According to Murrow, the drought is impacting how leaves change in some places of the state. He said that some maple leaves are falling before reaching pigmentation because of the drought.

However, Murrow said that Central Iowa should still expect to see the change of color next week.

DNR releases a fall color report every week on their website’s homepage. The report will highlight which areas of Iowa are the go-to places to see the fall colors in full effect.