TRAVERSE CITY -- Rain and cold may not seem like ideal conditions for the northwest Michigan fall colors tour.
Strangely enough, those conditions could well prove beneficial later this month.
"The rain will supply the trees with enough moisture so they can hold onto their leaves a little longer," said Jeff Lutz, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Gaylord.
That could mean an extra week or two of red and orange-emblazoned trees later, if the rain continues through the weekend, as expected.
But regional tourist havens still expect to draw fall crowds.
"People who travel up here looking for colors are going to come, no matter what the weather looks like," said Charles Edson, president and winemaker at Bel Lago Vineyard and Winery in Cedar.
Tourists won't help this year's crop ripen, though. The cold, rainy weather seems to have stalled picking.
"Because of the cool growing season, we're a couple weeks behind on our grape harvest," Edson said.
A typical grape harvest begins in late September and continues into November, Edson said. By Tuesday afternoon, Edson had not harvested any grapes.
"We'll hopefully start later this week, weather permitting," he said. "If not, we may wait till next week."
The cool, wet system that settled over the region also has affected reservations at The Homestead in Glen Arbor, said Jamie Jewell, the resort's senior manager.
"More and more people are making last-minute reservations based on the latest weather forecast," Jewell said. "This is an odd time of the year only because we're getting so much rain."
In Benzie County, leaves on most trees haven't begun to change, but local business owners expect plenty of foot traffic this weekend as tourists trek north for festivals, and other seasonal fun, said Joanne Bartley, executive director of the Frankfort-Elberta Chamber of Commerce.
Weather forecasters aren't saying temperatures will zoom back into the 70s after the gloomy weather passes. Northwest Michigan residents could see -- uh, oh -- a combination of rain and snow by next week.
"We're probably going to see some of that mix over the next couple weeks," Lutz said.
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