The Washington Post has created a series of visualizations tracking whether leaves have sprouted in the United States in 2023. One visualization shows areas of the country with plants that sprouted leaves earlier than usual in green, areas with plants that sprouted later than usual in pink, and areas with plants that sprouted at their usual time in yellow. Plants typically begin to sprout leaves when the average daily temperature rises above freezing, so changes in leaf sprouting indicate a fluctuation in seasonal timing. According to this visualization, most of the country experienced an atypical start to spring weather.
Visualizing the Arrival of Spring
