Autumn color has appeared weeks earlier than usual this year, as the continuing drought has stressed trees and other plants in area forests. While much of northern St. Louis County received modest rains early in the week, it was likely too little, too late for most trees and shrubs.
Many trees, especially birch and red maples, have already marked the end of their growing season with the changing of their leaves. Large areas of fall color are now visible across northern St. Louis County, especially in higher elevations where shallow soils have dried virtually straight through to bedrock.
The drought continues to depress river levels, which fell to historic lows in several area rivers. Flows in the Littlefork River fell still further over the past week, reaching just 32 cubic feet per second at the measuring station north of the town of Littlefork. That was down 15 percent from the week before, which was already the second lowest flow in 100 years. The average August flow in the Littlefork is 375 cfs.
The Vermilion River continued its fall to record levels as well, hitting just 33 cfs as of Monday, down from 52 cfs the week before. The current flow was less than one-tenth of its August average of 372 cfs.Timberjay News
