INDIANAPOLIS (AP) – State forestry officials say Indiana’s recent dry spell could shorten and dim the state’s fall foliage season.

The state Department of Natural Resources says the brightest fall colors are produced by bright, warm days, cool nights and moist soils. While the entire state has enjoyed bright, warm days, the DNR says scant recent rainfall threatens to dim the fall colors in some areas and bring that foliage down earlier than normal.

Carrie Tauscher oversees the Division of Forestry’s Community & Urban Forestry program. She says officials in southern Indiana’s tourist towns such as Nashville and Madison shouldn’t worry about the dry weather’s impact on fall colors.

Tauscher says sassafras and sweetgum trees in forest understories and along roadsides will produce vivid red, orange and yellow colors in the coming weeks.