BOISE, Idaho — Unseasonably mild temperatures and below-average snowpack across the Northwest are accelerating the timing of nature in some areas, triggering what is known as a “false spring.”
Phenology, the study of recurring seasonal events like plants blooming and animal movement, depends on temperature, hours of daylight and moisture. This winter, those signals have been out of sync.
Cities like Boise, Seattle, Spokane and Portland have generally experienced a milder-than-normal season, with less snow and prolonged stretches of above-average temperatures…