Microseason 10 of 72 · February 16–20
Red-winged blackbirds return
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
Red-winged blackbirds return
Males arrive ahead of females, claiming marsh territories.
- SESoutheast Subtropical
Mockingbirds resume the dawn chorus
Northern mockingbirds reopen their year-round territory songs as red-shouldered hawks pair over the Piedmont and red maples push first crimson buds.
- PNWPacific Northwest
The Salmon Remember
Spring Chinook ascend major rivers in pulses. Water temperature hovering near 42-44°F triggers their migration instinct. The rivers fill with returning kings.
- CACalifornia Mediterranean
Rivers recede, flowers spread
Late February rain retreats; sun dominates. Wildflower carpets thicken in meadows. Coast live oak woodlands fully green. Steelhead and coho salmon near spawn peaks.
- MWMountain West
Red-wing calls rise from the wetlands
Sandhill cranes begin moving north through Monte Vista and Bosque del Apache; red-winged blackbirds call from cattail marshes.
- MPPlains Continental
Cold rebound before the final thaw
Late February cold snaps return; hibernators retreat as ice re-locks the wetlands.
- SWSouthwest Desert
Sonoran wildflowers reach peak diversity
Full bloom across all elevations. Palo verde golden, ocotillo crimson, poppies vivid yellow. Daytime 85-90°F. Desert alive with color and sound.
- TRTropical / Sub-Tropical
Trade-wind rhythm softens slightly
Late February—humidity increases noticeably. First sustained afternoon showers arrive. Mangrove fruits drop into tidal zones. Sabal palm flowers appear in cream-colored spikes.
- AKAlaska Subarctic
Predators intensify as prey awakens
Fish beneath thickening ice sense lengthening days; eagles gather where springs keep water open.
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.