If you’re in Northern New England and missing the color green, worry not: spring is just around the corner.
The USA National Phenology Network, a research organization that studies the changing of the seasons, estimates the arrival of spring each year in precise detail. Its latest data show that spring has finally arrived across most of New England, and the first leaves will begin showing in northern-most areas soon.
The data is generated from a mathematical model based on the emergence of leaves from lilacs and honeysuckles, which according to the National Phenology Network, are among the first plants to turn green each year and are common in much of the US. Temperature data is used to estimate the exact arrival of leaves.
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In Massachusetts, the data show that spring arrived in late March in areas around the coast, while in Western Massachusetts and parts of Central Massachusetts, leaves did not appear until several weeks later, in mid-April.
Using the data, we can also see how this spring compares to long-term averages. According to the National Phenology Network, the arrival of spring in the Boston area was about nine days earlier this year compared to the 30-year average.
But in the Midwest, spring came even earlier: In parts of Iowa and Missouri, it was the earliest on record, according to the data, thanks in part to unusually warm temperatures. In late February, Des Moines smashed heat records with temperatures in the upper 70s.
Christina Prignano can be reached at christina.prignano@globe.com. Follow her @cprignano. Kirkland An can be reached at kirkland.an@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @kirkland_an