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DENVER (KDVR) — It’s still summer in Colorado, but the first signs of fall are coming a little earlier than expected.

Fall leaves can be seen slowly starting to change in August, with peak season coming as soon as mid-September in some areas across the state. While it’s almost the start of fall, some of the changing leaves are coming quicker than usual.

Jay Judd, district manager of the East Denver Davey Tree office, said that’s because of the hot, dry summer.

Why are fall leaves changing earlier this year?

The fall leaves are expected to start peaking in mid-September. While Judd said this is an average time for the fall leaves to peak in parts of Colorado, some of his clients in the Denver metro have reported trees starting to change as early as mid-August, far before the city’s peak season in mid-October.

This is because of the heat and drought conditions.

Judd said that when trees don’t get enough water, they prioritize essential functions, like deciding between spending energy to produce more food or to photosynthesize. As a result, chlorophyll production, which makes leaves green, and photosynthesis can decrease.

“When it’s super hot and dry, trees get stressed out,” said Judd. “When trees get stressed out, they start figuring out where they can get resources and start allocating resources to stay alive, right? So one of the first things we see change is going to be the tree start or the leaves start going dormant.”

When leaves start to go dormant, they change colors. Along with drought conditions, the heat damaged the photosynthetic machinery of leaves and caused some leaf edges to turn brown.

So, some leaves across the state are starting to change colors early, but Judd said that’s not the case for all trees, just the stressed-out ones. If it starts to cool down, the trees will peak at the normal time, but people will see hints of fall across Colorado earlier than usual.