News Photo by Steve Schulwitz The leaves on a large tree in Alpena begin to change color. Smokymountains.com, a website that predicts and tracks the progress of leaves changing color, says leaves in Northeast Michigan are partially changed now and will near their peak on or around Oct. 2. The website says peak fall colors will be from around Oct. 9 until near Oct. 20.

ALPENA — Mother Nature has begun splashing color onto the trees in Northeast Michigan and in the next several weeks, the area will be consumed by the red, yellow, and orange leaves.

The colors are spotty in and around Alpena, but with each passing day, the colors seem to spread.

According to smokymountains.com — a website that predicts and tracks the progress of leaves changing color — leaves have partially changed color already and will near their peak on or around Oct. 2.

The website says peak fall colors will be from around Oct. 9 until near Oct. 20.

It is not uncommon for people to take road trips to look at the fall colors and people drive miles north from areas downstate to take in the beauty of autumn locally. Some of the prime areas to see the leaves are on M-65 near Posen, on M-32 between Hillman and Atlanta, and U.S.-23 between Alpena and Rogers City.

Odds are good that the colors will be bountiful on any road on the outskirts of cities and towns in the area, however.

The leaves change color and eventually die and fall to the ground by the process of photosynthesis. Leaves produce their green colors from spring through early fall through the constant creation of chlorophyll. Chlorophyll is key in a plant’s ability to turn sunlight into glucose, which in turn feeds the trees.

As the days get shorter in fall and there are fewer hours of sunlight, the production of chlorophyll diminishes and the leaves return to their original color.

Cool weather, coupled with rain or snow showers can also exhilarate the speed of the color change and the duration of time they remain on trees.

The current forecast for Alpena from the National Weather Service predicts temperatures will be warm in the mid-70s until Sunday and then there will be a string when high temperatures will be in the mid-60s.

There is no rain in the forecast until Oct. 3, so the mild weather may extend the lifespan of the leaves.

After the peak color period, there are still many leaves to admire, but they begin to quickly dry and fall. Smokymountains.com says the leaves could pass their peak anytime after Oct. 16 through the end of the month.

Steve Schulwitz can be reached at 989-358-5689 at sschulwitz@thealpenanews.com. Follow him on Twitter @ss_alpenanews.com.