Spring Weather Phenomena

These are some amazing phenomena you can only see during the spring months, from the blooming of flowers to great animal migrations. 

1. Cherry Blossoms, Japan

Cherry blossoms, or sakura, bloom across Japan between late March through early April. Millions of locals and international tourists turn out each year to admire these beautiful light pink and white flowers. The blooms begin in Okinawa and peak in Kyoto and Tokyo. 

2. Gray Whale Migration, Pacific Coast of the United States

In early spring, gray whales and their calves can be seen migrating by the Big Sur coastline and past Oregon and Washington. These animals, which can grow up to 45 feet long and weigh as much as 33 tons, head north from Mexico to their summer feeding grounds in the Arctic in the Bering, Beaufort and Chukchi Seas, where they eat small crustaceans and tubeworms.

3. Osprey, Chesapeake Bay, Maryland

While ospreys can be observed in a multitude of places including New York and Seattle, the Chesapeake Bay area is home to the largest known concentration of ospreys in the world, according to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. Because the osprey population is doing so well in this region, visitors have a good chance of spotting ospreys flying overhead if they visit the region. 

4. Spring Surfing, Central America

Central America is one of the best places to go surfing in Spring. The season marks the arrival of the first south swells of the year, reports The Surf Channel, and even slight southern swells can produce incredible surf that can be enjoyed in such places as El Salvador, Panama and Costa Rica.  

5. Baby Wild Animals, Yellowstone National Park

Spring is a great time for wildlife viewing in Yellowstone National Park because visitors have a greater chance of spotting a range of new baby animals, including black bear cubs, bighorn lambs (usually born in May), elk and bison calves, baby pronghorn antelope or gray wolf cubs.

6. Sandhill Crane Migration, Nebraska

The arrival of the cranes on Nebraska’s Platte River - along with millions of other migratory birds such as ducks and geese - is one of the country's greatest wildlife spectacles.

7. Waterfalls, Yosemite National Park

The best time of year to see Yosemite National Park's waterfalls is in spring, when most of the snowmelt occurs and the waterfalls are the most impressive. Peak runoff is typically in May or June, according to the National Park Service. Some waterfalls, including Yosemite Falls, are only a trickle (or are compltely dry) by August.

8. Spring Butterfly Migration, Mexico and the United States

As warm temperatures arrive, monarch butterflies who flew south in the fall become more active and start to breed. This marks the start of their northern migration back to North America.  Female monarchs leave their wintering sites and fly north and east in the search of milkweed plants to lay their eggs on before they die, according to MonarchWatch. 

9. Northern Spring Peeper, Maryland

The croaking and cacophonous sound of Chorus Frogs, also called "Spring Peepers" or Pseudacris crucifer, is one of the first signs of spring in Maryland, reports the state's Department of Natural Resources. These tiny frogs live in wooded and grassy lowland areas near ponds and swamps, according to National Geographic. 

10. Wildflowers across the United States

Of course, the arrival of spring is most famously marked by the blooming of wildflowers across the country from deserts to mountainscapes. Just 40 miles from Phoenix, the Superstition Mountains burst into color with multitudes of wild Mexican poppies and Lupine bloom each year. Meanwhile, Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve in the Mojave Desert is home to one of the largest and most dependable bloom of orange California poppies, according to Smithsonian Magazine. Central and southern Texas is an ideal place to see fields blooming with bluebonnets, Texas’ state flower, and from April 1-30, 2015, Ennis showcases over 40 miles of mapped driving Bluebonnet Trails, the oldest such trails known in the state. Thousands of visitors make the short trek to Ennis to view the wildflower show. In late April, Tennessee's Great Smoky Mountain National Park also blooms with over 1,500 wildflower varieties, making the park a world-renowned hotspot for wildflower pilgrimages.