St. Louis Won't See Peak Autumn Color 'Til November This Year

It may feel like it's autumn out there — after a summer with truly intense heat and humidity, the mornings are now noticeably cool, and there's a certain softer quality to the light. But St. Louis still has a long way to go before it will see peak leaf color.

That's according to the 2023 Fall Foliage map, a prediction tool produced by the Smoky Mountains that we've come to rely upon when planning camping trips and other activities enhanced by autumn colors. It suggests St. Louis will see only patchy leaf changes through mid-October, with the peak not arriving until November 6.

As the map below demonstrates, our leaf color is a bit behind even Southern states like Virginia and Kentucky. We hit when northern Georgia and South Carolina hit.
Interestingly, the lateness of St. Louis' autumn is not something that's changed much in recent decades, even as the place continues to heat up. Susanne Renner, an honorary professor of biology at Washington University, previously told St. Louis on the Air that, despite perceptions to the contrary, peak autumn has held steady locally for two decades. And that's because it's not the temperature outside that determines when leaves turn — it's the hours of daylight.

All of which is to say: Take care when planning that fall glamping trip or family photo shoot in the park. Mid-October may seem like the perfect time — but if the Fall Foliage guide is correct, you'll be better off waiting til early November.

See the interactive map below:




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