ORLANDO, Florida. – Fall officially starts on Sunday, September 22nd!

While this doesn’t mean much for Florida’s weather right now, there will be some changes.

Daylight Saving Time officially ends on November 3, meaning we “fall back” and daylight ends earlier, with the sun setting before 6pm.

FALL LEAVES IN FLORIDA?

Florida isn’t at the top of the list when people consider a destination to see the vibrant colors of fall in the trees. Yes, the palm trees are still green, but believe it or not, fall leaves can be seen in the Sunshine State.

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Many associate the changing colors of fall with cooler weather. It turns out it’s the light — or lack thereof.

The funny thing is that fall starts everywhere except in Florida, because let’s face it, the heat doesn’t last long here.

What does disappear is the amount of daylight. The days are getting shorter, cold front or no cold front.

Chlorophyll is responsible for giving leaves their green color. As the days get shorter, changes begin to occur in deciduous plants and trees. Less light means less nutrients for the plant. Trees respond to this change by breaking down chlorophyll, which reduces the amount of green and reveals the yellow, orange, and vibrant red hues associated with the fall season.

Once winter sets in, most leaves are brown. This is because the tree has reabsorbed all the nutrients from the leaves.

The weather makes or breaks the amount of vibrant colors you see in fall. The more rain that falls in the summer, combined with the slightly cooler and drier days of fall, results in the brightest colors.

In drought conditions, trees will drop their leaves to prepare for winter hiatus before full leaf color is achieved. Freezing or frost conditions during the longer nights can also cause this process to stop, resulting in less color and much more brown.

While the northern states are known for their beautiful fall colors, there are also places in Florida where the red maples live up to their name.

From late October to mid-November, the further north you go, the more autumn colours you can admire.

Of course, this happens later in the season, after the bloom period is over in other states, but it’s worth the wait.

The Florida Panhandle is the best place to start. About an hour west of Tallahassee and north of Bristol is Torreya State Park, where the stunning colors of fall can be seen on the southernmost reaches of the Appalachians.

Gainesville is also a great place to admire the bright colors of Florida’s maple, sweetgum, persimmon, and sugarberry trees.

Beautiful fall colors can even be found here in Central Florida. Just head to Wekiwa State Park in Apopka to see the yellows and oranges among the cypresses and maples growing among the popular palms we all know and love.

TIME CHANGE

Remember a few years ago when then-Governor Rick Scott signed HB 1013, an attempt to permanently enforce Daylight Saving Time for all Floridians?

The legislation, however, will only take effect if Congress changes the law to observe Daylight Saving Time year-round. Shortly after the bill was signed, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Florida, introduced the “Sunshine Protection Act,” which seeks to implement the change at the federal level, but it has been in legal limbo ever since.

For the time being, Florida will have to change its clocks twice a year.

Daylight Saving Time was introduced to provide more daylight in the evenings during the warmer months.

If we were to keep Daylight Savings Time year-round, summer sunrises and sunsets would remain unchanged from what we are used to. Currently, with Daylight Savings Time, the latest sunset in Central Florida in the summer is just before 8:30 p.m.

The problem would come in the morning, though. If we didn’t regress in early November, the sun wouldn’t rise until after 8 a.m. in the middle of winter. We’d have a little more daylight in the evening if we kept Daylight Savings Time all year.

On the other hand, if we kept standard time all year round, many of your summer evening activities would be in the dark. However, the sun would rise much earlier, with the earliest sunrise at 5:27 a.m. in midsummer. The latest sunset wouldn’t be until 7:27 a.m.

The time change, while inconvenient, does allow us to save daylight during the summer months and avoid an extremely late sunrise in the middle of winter.

To a great autumn. Enjoy it!