Microseason 45 of 72 · August 11–15
Goldenrod begins to bloom
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
Goldenrod begins to bloom
Solidago brightens roadsides — first sign of autumn ahead.
- SESoutheast Subtropical
Cool winds gather at the margins
Mid-August brings first hints of autumn: evening breezes cool slightly, hurricanes peak, fall's pull intensifies.
- PNWPacific Northwest
Cicadas Crescendo
Evening air thrums with the combined calls of cicadas, tree crickets, and katydids. Warm nights; smoke finally lifting. Autumn's first whisper.
- CACalifornia Mediterranean
Cool winds signal the turning year
Gentle offshore breezes freshen; fog returns more reliably to the coast; fire danger recedes toward moderate.
- MWMountain West
Cool wind returns from north
Cool dry air mass displaces monsoon; nights drop to 40s even at 7000 feet; aspen groves glow with yellow-gold at elevation.
- MPPlains Continental
Cool wind rises from the north
Cooler air masses push south; morning temperatures drop into the 50s; the first palpable shift toward fall settles across the plains.
- SWSouthwest Desert
Currents turn cool and distant
Early mornings hint at autumn. Nights cool toward 70°F. Monsoon moisture retreats. The desert settles into its post-flood phase — green but preparing to harden again.
- TRTropical / Sub-Tropical
Cool winds find their path again
Harmattan winds strengthen. Sea surface temperature plateaus. Goldenrod-equivalent species flower (not true goldenrod but yellow-bloomed composites). Storm season peaks.
- AKAlaska Subarctic
Aurora appears in darkening nights
Aurora borealis visible again after months of midnight sun; northern lights dance in returning darkness as autumn approaches.
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.