By Michael Arnold
This year in New York City, spring didn’t give the groundhog a chance to see his shadow. It arrived weeks before he resurfaced from hibernation.
The peculiar winter, or lack thereof, in the city has been an extremely atypical phenomenon. The Big Apple rang in 2012 with April-like weather, a stark difference from the usual icy cold conditions. Trees and plants have been budding and then dying off since the holidays and throughout the month of January.
February 2012 in Madison Square Park.
The Unseasonable Weather is Throwing Off Plants and Animals
Surely, many city residents, myself included, are overjoyed at not having to shovel mounds of snow each morning. However, the unseasonably warm winter has been disorienting for plant cycles and bird migration patterns.
In early February, Japanese apricot trees and yellow Adonis plants – exotic annuals at the Bronx Botanical Gardens – began blooming. One freeze, however, and these plants will be killed off until next spring.
Budding crocuses on Park Ave South in early February.
It Looks Like Spring Throughout the City
Likewise, crocuses can be seen popping out of the ground throughout the city’s parks. Small trees are flowering, and many bushes are producing berries. Birds have migrated back to the city area in droves – about two months before their usual migration time. One short bout of real NYC winter weather, and it could be to the detriment of all this wildlife.
The city thus far has seen less than significant snowfall in January, and an overnight dusting in early February. We can only hope that there isn’t a major freeze, or it might be a quiet spring.
A warm February day in Madison Square Park.
Photographs by Michael Arnold.
