“It’s not getting back to warm,” says IU junior Zoe Mintz who studies atmospheric sciences. “Maybe a 60 degree day if we’re lucky, but it’s going to be like this for the rest of the year.”

The temperature dropped nearly 30 degrees in less than a week, and is remaining cold. Mintz says it’s hard to understand why it dropped so suddenly, but says the real reason Bloomington is missing fall is due to the unusually long summer weather.

“Usually it would start changing around the end of September,” she says. “But because we had all those hurricanes, it brought so much warm moist air into our area, and it kind of just sat over us.”

Hurricane Michael wreaked havoc on Florida’s panhandle last week, killing at least 20 people. Extreme weather in general made a warm patch over the midwest, and now that the hurricanes are done, so is the warmer weather in Bloomington.

The trees on campus also point to an unusual fall. At a glance, they look as green as summer or late spring. In mid-October campus is typically full of vibrant red and orange leaves, but so far they are greener than ever. Mintz says the only way for trees to sense a change in season is by temperature cues. 60 degrees allows them to begin changing before they die in colder weather.

Since last week went from 80 degrees to the low 50’s, the cue was off and some leaves already died.

According to state forestry officials, despite the delay there is still a chance the leaves will change within the upcoming weeks.