COLUMBIA, S.C. — The calendar might say we are in winter but the weather has felt more like spring lately. Outside of the extreme cold we saw ending last year, 2023 has been off to a warm start. This year ranks near the top 10 warmest starts on record. While this has resulted in no snowy weather, we are now starting to see the signs of Spring in early February. These photos from Sharon one of our WLTX Weather Watchers shows trees in the Midlands already beginning to flower.
The National Phenology Network says that this activity is anywhere from 1-2 weeks earlier thanks to the warmer weather we have been seeing. These conditions are typically seen once every 5-20 years across the Midlands.
The issue with this early start was seen last year as local berry farmers saw their crops devastated similar to the South Carolina peach crop in 2017 due to late season freezes. Our last hard freezes have been occurring earlier thanks to our recent warming trends but, typically occur in early March. Last year we reached 23 degrees on March 13th.
Along with agricultural issues, pollen has already become a concern. As plants begin to bloom in early February we have already seen pollen levels begin to rise. Pollen counts are expected to rise into the medium range before rain moves through on Friday.
With long range models showing more mild conditions it looks like Spring could be here to stay but, we will have to watch out for the usual late season freeze.
