What is a microseason?

A microseason is a five-day window of the solar year named after a small natural event — first peach blossoms, longest shadows, the rotting grass becoming fireflies. Weather Story uses seventy-two of them as the editorial backbone for 'what season is it, really?' on every city page.

What happens during July 1–5?

July 1–5 is the July microseason 37 of 72. The phenological reading varies by climate region. In a representative Northeast Continental setting: Annual cicada buzz begins, peaking in the heat of the day.

Does this microseason describe weather in North America?

Yes. Every microseason has been read for nine North American climate regions: Northeast Continental, Southeast Subtropical, Pacific Northwest, California Mediterranean, Mountain West, Plains Continental, Southwest Desert, Tropical Sub-Tropical, and Alaska Subarctic. The same calendar window looks different in each region; the page above shows all nine readings side-by-side.

Microseason 37 of 72 · July 1–5

Cicadas claim the afternoon

A five-day window of the year, read through nine North American climate regions.

Same week, nine climates

A microseason names a five-day window of the solar year. What that window actually looks like on the ground depends on where you are. Below, the same calendar window read through each of nine North American climate regions.

NENortheast Continental
Cicadas claim the afternoon
Annual cicada buzz begins, peaking in the heat of the day.
SESoutheast Subtropical
Cicadas claim the scorching afternoon
Dog-day cicadas emerge in waves, their rasp dominating every sunny hour; heat peaks above 90 degrees daily.
PNWPacific Northwest
Fireweed Ignites
Magenta fireweed spires surge from burned and cleared slopes, their blooms climbing from base upward. July's signature color claims the disturbed ground.
CACalifornia Mediterranean
Summer heat deepens across the valleys
Inland temperatures exceed 95°F regularly; fire danger reaches moderate to high across most of the region.
MWMountain West
Monsoon storms drench the south
Monsoon established in southern Mountain West (New Mexico, southern Utah, Arizona north); afternoon downpours and lightning common.
MPPlains Continental
Cicadas claim the afternoon
Millions of periodical and annual cicadas emerge, their droning chorus filling the summer heat; the soundtrack of midsummer settles over prairie and wetland.
SWSouthwest Desert
The monsoon settles in
Afternoon thunderstorms now daily ritual. Rains transform the desert green within 72 hours. Dust clears; air smells alive. Microburst winds flatten entire sections of mesquite.
TRTropical / Sub-Tropical
Midyear heat — the wet season grip
July arrives at full tropical intensity. Afternoon showers violent and brief. Trade winds weaken. Air feels solid with moisture and warmth.
AKAlaska Subarctic
Salmon spawn in river gravels
Sockeye, chum, and pink salmon dig redds in gravel beds; bears and eagles feast on spawning fish at critical feeding moments.

About the 72-microseason calendar

A microseason is a five-day window of the solar year — long enough to notice something change, short enough that the change is specific. The year holds seventy-two of them, six per month, ordered by what the natural world is doing rather than what the clock says. Almanac calendars like this are an old American habit, kept by farmers, gardeners, and birders for centuries; Weather Story collects them into a single reference.

Each microseason is read through nine North American climate regions. The phenological events that mark a five-day window vary with ecology — the strawberries that open in the Northeast might coincide with the first magnolias dropping in the Southeast and the salmonberry blossoms unfurling in the Pacific Northwest. Same week, nine ecologies, nine readings.

Same week, nine climates