The USA-NPN, phenology, and our partners are often in the news. Follow some recent stories below.
By Groundhog day in 2017, spring had arrived 3-4 weeks early across much of the Southeast. This year, it looks like we will not see a very early spring in the Southeast. However, we predict that by Groundhog day this year, spring will have spread even further into Southwest states this year than last.
Punxsutawney Phil predicts six more weeks of winter. We agree - if we're talking about the eastern US. The southeast especially has been cool so far this year. In the west, we are already seeing signs of early spring from trout to snowberries. A new forecast by collaborator Toby Ault also calls for a early spring in the west, late in the east.
In a new article from the Associated Press, Weather Underground reports that 25% fewer states have had a freeze so far this fall than in normal years. A shorter freeze season means longer allergy season, longer mosquito and tick season, longer agricultural pest season, and cascading effects on plant and animal interactions.
The USA-NPN has recieved the 2017 Outstanding Achievement Award from the Renewable Natural Resouces Foundation recognizing our Start of Spring maps and access tools. These maps are based on decades of plant phenology data, and predict where spring has arrived across the country.
As of April 24, 2017, the National Phenology Database has reached 10 million records! Each record is a response to a question about phenology activity for a particular plant or animal species on a unique day and time, by a unique observer.
Read more about this milestone in this story in UA News.
Find out what 10 million records means: