There are places where the leaves are turning now but we will have to wait at least a month for some color up in the trees.
October some leaves may begin turning color in Georgia but leaves won’t peak in Jacksonville until November. As the nights grow longer the green pigment in chlorophyll decreases as trees get ready to prepare for the winter season.
Other pigments left behind in the leaves are Carotenoids and Anthocyanins that give the leaves yellow and red colors in the absence of green chlorophyll.
Some years are more vivid because of the weather. When a year has a warm dry late summer before a sunny fall with cool nights, the leaf color show can be impressive.
Drastic weather changes can also have an effect on the leaves. For example, a drought or an early frost could make the leaves fall off of the trees before they’ve had time to change colors.
In Florida, Red Maple, crape myrtles, blackgums, and bald cypress trees begin to change their leaves when the weather changes.
The best weeks to see the color change are early October in New England and late October through the central Applications. Some patchy color shows in southern Georgia by the end of October but increases through November.