Seasonal Story

Nature's Notebook observers reported some oddly-timed flowering for species across the country this fall.

Hundreds of Nature's Notebook observers across the country are tracking the fall leaf color of plants including maples, oaks, and poplars. On our map below, you can see that while there is a range in the start of fall leaf color in all regions this year.

Explore the data in our Visualization Tool »

Punxsutawney Phil predicted an early spring this year! Our maps of heat accumulation provide a more scientific look at how much heat has accumulated so far this year, and what's next. Heat accumulation is ahead of schedule in the Southeast, Northeast, and parts of the West, and more typical in Midwest states.

In places where spring has sprung, how how often have we seen a spring like this one? The USA-NPN's spring leaf out shines light on where leaf out of early season plants has occurred across the country. In the map, darker colors represent springs that are unusually early or late in the long-term record. Gray indicates an average spring.

Punxsutawney Phil predicts an early spring this year. Our map of accumulated growing degree days shows he may be right, for parts of the country anyway. See what Nature's Notebook observers are already reporting on plants and animals across the country.