Summer is behind us and we're not far away from peak fall foliage season here in the Midwest.

Iowa

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources says that peak fall colors generally happen the weekend closest to October 10th. It's about the last week of September to the second week of October.

Here's their breakdown of it:

As you can tell from the map, the further south you go in the state, the later the peak foliage gets. In Scott County, we're right on the cusp of the last two categories so we'll likely see peak colors at some point in October.

It could be really pretty this year. Droughts can prevent colorful leaves in the fall but State Climatologist Justin Glisan told Axios that our recent rains may have prevented that.

Illinois

Illinois fall colors aren't expected to pop up until the second week of October at the earliest. According to Patch, the forecast for this year says that you'll be able to see some partial fall foliage in the very north part of the state at the Wisconsin border beginning around October 10th. Sound familiar?

EnjoyIllinois.Com has this map from last year's season:

The Chicago area is expected to peak around Halloween.

Wisconsin

Wisconsin's earliest peak fall colors are expected to be the first week of October in the northern part of the state. Travel Wisconsin has this handy map that allows you to keep track of how much the fall colors are progressing in their counties.

What's What

If you're not super familiar with trees, here's your list of what tree is what color when you see the pretty leaves as you're out and about.

• Walnut (yellow)
• Red Oak (red, obviously)
• White Oak (red)
• Bur Oak (buff to yellow)
• Hickory (yellow)
• Ash (yellow, some might have a purple tint)
• Elms (yellow)
• Soft Maple (yellow)
• Hard Maple (bright red)
• Sumac (red. This is a small tree found at openings and edges, according to the Iowa DNR.)
• Virginia Creeper (bright red)

So plan your road trips now! If you're just itching to see bright fall colors right away, you'll want to go up to the northern areas in a few weeks. Otherwise, it's only about a month until we'll see them in the QC.