Colorado's fall colors in the state's mountains are emerging a couple of weeks early in 2025 as yellows and oranges are beginning to appear ahead of the annual September change over.

At locations like on Fremont Pass outside Leadville, around Tolland in Gilpin County and near Frisco in Summit County, leaves have begun changing colors.

Driving factors to this year's earlier change are mostly due to drought conditions across the state.

The three key factors that affect leaf changing timelines in the mountains are adequate snowpack from the previous winter, sufficient summer-time rain, and cool nights and sunny days.

Colorado's snowpack suffered in some spots over winter 2024-25, leaving some areas in western and southwestern Colorado very dry heading into summer.

Furthermore, monsoonal

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