‘Everything turns around’ for Seattle’s incredibly long springs

Don’t tell the rest of the country, but Seattle and the Pacific Northwest could have the longest spring in the country.

OK, it may not come as much of a surprise that our spring starts early. But it actually lasts for quite a while.

University of Washington Atmospheric Scientist Cliff Mass told Seattle’s Morning News that the Pacific Northwest enjoys about four months of spring. Winter weather ends relatively early, especially compared with other parts of the country. While the East Coast continues to deal with snow, we’re enjoying a change to more mild weather.

Related: Seattle set to break wettest winter records

It’s about the third week of February when “everything starts to turn around,” Mass said.

That means the plants KIRO Radio’s Dave Ross believed he killed the previous year start to return to life early.

It’s true, Mass said. Especially for this year, where temperatures have been above average &#8211 about five degrees above normal. The Pacific Northwest is currently experiencing temperatures similar to that of late March, Mass added.

It’s important to note that meteorological spring is separate from that of astronomical spring, Mass told Dave. Astronomical spring is the three month period from March 20-21 to June 20-21.

For those skeptical that a place with a reputation for being cold and wet could have a long spring, Mass justified his reasoning on his blog. Mass uses an objective measure, where spring begins when daily temperatures rise above 50 degrees, and summer begins when daily temperatures rise above 70 degrees. In Seattle, the average high crosses 50 degrees in late February and rises above 70 degrees at the end of June. When compared to other cities &#8211 two dozen locations &#8211 Mass found that no major city in the U.S. has a longer spring than Seattle.

Unfortunately, having an early start to spring means the Pacific Northwest also has a relatively short summer.

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