ST. PAUL, Minn. — Minnesota’s fall-color season is gearing up for what’s expected to be an impressive show.

The peak color is arriving a bit later than it did last year, thanks to a warm September, but cooler temperatures were expected starting Thursday night.

“We need cool nights — generally 32 to 40 or 45 degrees — and then warm days in order for the color to start to change in the leaves,” said Pat Arndt, a spokeswoman for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources’ Parks and Trails Division. “We haven’t had those cool temperatures statewide like we normally would have.”

Minnesota Public Radio reports that the DNR’s updated fall color map, posted Thursday, shows three main pockets of peak color so far, in north-central and northeastern Minnesota.

“If you haven’t had the chance to go out and look at fall colors yet, you still are going to have opportunity over the next couple of weeks,” Arndt told MPR.

Much of the North Shore, one of Minnesota’s premiere fall color destinations, is less than 75 percent turned because Lake Superior has a moderating influence on temperatures, she said.

“But if you go inland more where you don’t have the lake effect the colors are starting to pop,” she said.