Reading the signs of spring

Balsamroot bloomed early this year on some sunny, south-facing slopes amid warmer- and drier-than-normal weather in February and March.

But an early-April snowstorm withered the tender blooms. The cool weather persisted, so it wasn’t until May that hillsides were studded with sunflowers, the emblematic symbol of spring in the Methow.

Naturalists and locals who track these seasonal events have observed a variety of anomalies this year. Some birds and wildflowers were out early, but others showed up late, they said.

The study of the relationship between climate and biological phenomena like bird migration, plant flowering, and insect hatching, is called phenology. Farmers and gardeners have long relied on signals — like waiting for the snow to melt off McClure Mountain — as the cue that it’s warm enough to plant. Others keep an annual log because they’re curious about the natural world and about what these patterns indicate about more widespread changes in climate.

On some level, these annual variations are just that — variations — but they’re occurring amid inescapable signs of a changing climate. Weather patterns that take place over 20 years become climate, said Joshua Porter, who tracks natural cycles in his role as director of Sustainability Pathways for Western Washington University.

Porter keeps a journal of what he notices every day. Phenology helps natural historians develop essential skills for tuning into changes in the land and patterns in nature, he said. His students track specific plants every week, along with weather and cloud cover, since that also affects whether you see birds or other animals, Porter said.