Microseason 22 of 72 · April 16–20
Dogwoods float above the forest
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
Dogwoods float above the forest
Flowering dogwood bracts hover like moths in the understory.
- SESoutheast Subtropical
First rainbows arch over thunderheads
Afternoon thunderstorms arrive almost daily now. Humidity surges. Rainbows arc over the Piedmont in five-minute bursts.
- PNWPacific Northwest
Rainbows Arc Above the Cascades
Spring rain showers intersperse with sun, painting bold rainbows across valleys. Douglas fir pollen drifts heavy; fir trees yellow the air in fine dust.
- CACalifornia Mediterranean
Coastal fog settles; sun breaks midday
Marine layer intensifies over the coast—June Gloom arrives early. Interior valleys bake; coast stays cool and layered, fog lifting by afternoon.
- MWMountain West
Rainbows arch over the snowfields
Rain-on-snow events and passing thunderstorms paint rainbow after rainbow across the peaks. Snowmelt swells into a torrent.
- MPPlains Continental
Rainbows Follow Afternoon Storms
Severe thunderstorms peak with hail, wind, and flood potential; rainbows arc across the drenched plains.
- SWSouthwest Desert
Saguaro fruit splits open red
Saguaro fruits ripen crimson; birds and animals feast; ceremony season.
- TRTropical / Sub-Tropical
Rain paints the sky
Afternoon rainbows arc over the islands and coasts daily. Humidity peaks; afternoon showers become as reliable as sunrise.
- AKAlaska Subarctic
Salmon scouts test the rivers
King (Chinook) salmon begin entering major rivers; first runs trigger predators downstream. Glacial outflow clouds the water.
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.