With temperatures predicted to top out in the mid-80s over the next few days, there’s no doubt that it is summer.

A look outside, however, might be more reminiscent of autumn.

In some areas, trees are already exchanging their green leaves for yellow, red or orange.

“We had an extremely dry year,” explained Jake Bausinger, a forester with the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.

Bausinger noted that certain types of deciduous trees respond to the parched conditions by dropping their leaves or changing colors.

It is a way for the trees to stay healthy and viable.

“In late summer and fall, nutrients are being stored and directed to the roots, by winter the tree becomes dormant and energy exchange is not readily happening,” he explained. “Early shedding of leaves just speeds up the process and puts the tree ahead of schedule.”

In the Pocono region, which again is in the running for USA Today’s “10Best” foliage destinations, pockets of color are evident.

“Some of the highest elevations in the northern parts of the Poconos are slowly, but evidently, changing color. Some along the country roads too,” said James Hamill, spokesman for the Pocono Mountains Visitors Bureau.

Farther south, “Porcupine” Pat McKinney, environmental education coordinator for the Schuylkill Conservation District, is seeing leaves in his yard turn brown and fall.

“It’s dry,” he said.

The National Weather Service reported that over the past 60 days, precipitation in the eastern half of Pennsylvania has been more than 75% below normal.

But the lack of water and the steady heat aren’t the only factors responsible for changing the colors of leaves, Bausinger said.

“There has been some forest pests that attribute to early discoloration,” he explained.

For example, patches of brown can be spotted on locust trees that are affected by the locust leaf miner. The pest favors black locust trees but will occasionally attack apple, birch, beech, cherry, elm and oak trees.

Trees heavily infested with the leaf miner, which is a type of beetle, appear scorched or burned in midsummer.

“Because this is at the end of the growing season it should not have a major impact on the health of the tree, but it stands out when so many other trees are still ‘green,’?” Bausinger said of the locust leaf miner damage.

Last year, fall foliage peaked in Carbon and Schuylkill counties between Oct. 24 and 30.

Bausinger believes it will happen earlier this year.

So, too, does Julianne Schieffer, a Penn State extension educator and regional urban forester.

Based in Montgomery County, she’s been seeing trees with significant leaf loss.

“I think we will see (fall foliage) early. In certain cases we are seeing it now,” she said.

When single trees turn color, she said, they often go unnoticed.

“It’s less effective and less beautiful when it’s not en masse,” she said, noting that she prefers seeing dozens of trees standing together with colors ablaze.

DCNR will begin providing regional fall foliage reports in late September.

“It’s a great tool to help determine where to find vibrant color throughout PA,” Bausinger said of the website at https://www.dcnr.pa.gov/Conservation/ForestsAndTrees/FallFoliageReports/Pages/default.aspx.

DCNR notes that Pennsylvania has a longer and more varied fall foliage season than anywhere in the world. The commonwealth is one of three regions that support deciduous forests that display full autumn color. The others are the British Isles and parts of northwestern Europe, and northeastern China and northern Japan.

The Pocono Mountains Visitors Bureau will post its fall foliage forecast beginning Sept. 8 at www.PoconoMountains.com/fall.