Signs of a Minnesota Summer

Environmental & Science Education
STEM
Biodiversity
Nature
Edward Hessler

When spring seemed to be a-coming on, I posted an illustrated guide on signs of a Minnesota spring. It was written and beautifully illustrated by Greta Kaul (MinnPost).

Ms. Kaul has just published, again in MinnPost, an illustrated guide on signs of a Minnesota summer. The analysis is limited in the same way the spring guide was: "to observations in the seven-county Twin Cities metro area and to phenomena that have three or more recorded observations over time."
The data are from the Minnesota Phenology Network to which you will find a link in Kaul's guide.

So is it summer yet? Depends on who you ask. There are two major ways to think about the seasonst. One was developed by meteorologists; the other, by astronomers. Meteorological summer is from June 1 to August 31. Kaul's lovely essay and watercolor guide was published on May 31. So summer it 'tis by one account.