Washington Nature Guide: February 2026
Data updated: August 2026Sources & method · Corrections
February in Washington is the first quiet hinge of the year — westside gardens stir with snowdrops and hellebores under steady rain, eagles and swans still hold the Skagit, and the first sagebrush buttercups open on warm slopes east of the Cascades while the mountains stay deep in snow.
Week by week in February
January 29 – February 4
- Bald Eagles rebuild nests and Great Horned Owls are already on eggs, while the Skagit swans and Snow Geese still hold the fields.
- Native Indian plum (osoberry) begins to leaf out along westside woodland edges — the surest first herald of the Northwest spring.
- Red alder dangles heavy reddish catkins shedding pollen over every lowland creek, the first stirring of the deciduous trees.
February 5–11
- East of the Cascades, sagebrush buttercup opens its glossy yellow flowers on warm south slopes of the Columbia Gorge, often beside lingering snow.
- Start onions, leeks, and slow flowers under lights, and finish dormant pruning of fruit and roses before the buds swell.
- Snow Geese and swans grow restless on the Skagit, and the first Cackling Geese flocks shift across the lowland fields.
February 12–18
- The first Rufous Hummingbirds can appear on the southwest coast, the vanguard of the spring migration sweeping up from the south.
- Snowdrops, crocus, and witch hazel fill westside gardens, and native red-flowering currant buds swell along the woodland edges.
- The first forced rhubarb and overwintered leeks appear, while storage apples and pears stay crisp from cold holding.
February 19–25
- On a dry westside day, sow the first peas, fava beans, spinach, and arugula directly as the soil drains, and chit seed potatoes.
- On a warm afternoon in the Puget lowland, an overwintered Mourning Cloak may emerge to bask — often the first butterfly anyone sees.
- Leo climbs in the east after dusk, the first sign of the spring sky, as brilliant Orion still dominates the south.
Birds This Month
The great winter spectacles still hold through February. Snow Geese, Trumpeter and Tundra Swans, and Bald Eagles remain on the Skagit and Stillaguamish flats, and the Short-eared Owls and Northern Harriers still hunt the Samish and Boundary Bay edges. On the Salish Sea, sea ducks and alcids linger — scoters, Long-tailed Ducks, Barrow's Goldeneye, Harlequin Ducks, and Common Murres.
But change is coming. Anna's Hummingbird males are already display-diving over westside gardens, and the year's first songs ring out — Song Sparrows, Pacific Wrens, Bewick's Wrens, and House Finches tune up on milder mornings. Bald Eagles rebuild nests, and Great Horned Owls are already on eggs. Late in the month the first Rufous Hummingbirds can appear on the southwest coast, and skeins of Cackling Geese grow restless on the lowland fields.
What's Blooming
February is when the mild Puget lowland visibly wakes. Native Indian plum (osoberry) is among the very first shrubs to leaf and bloom, draping its greenish-white flowers along westside woodland edges — a true herald of the Northwest spring. Beneath it the first red-flowering currant buds swell, and on the forest floor licorice fern and moss are at their lushest. Cultivated gardens fill with snowdrops, crocus, winter aconite, hellebores, witch hazel, and early camellias.
East of the Cascades the shrub-steppe shows its first life of the year: sagebrush buttercup opens its glossy yellow flowers on warm, south-facing slopes of the Columbia Gorge and Yakima canyon, often beside lingering snow, and the earliest desert parsley (Lomatium) begins to push up. The high country, from the Cascades to the Olympics, remains buried under deep snowpack with no bloom for months yet.
Garden This Month
February is when the Puget lowland gardener truly gets to work. As the soil drains on a dry stretch, sow the first cool-season crops directly — peas, fava beans, spinach, radishes, and arugula — and chit seed potatoes for an early planting. It is the last good window for dormant pruning of apples, pears, blueberries, grapes, and roses before buds swell, and for planting bare-root fruit trees and cane berries from the nurseries while stock is fresh.
Indoors, start onions, leeks, celery, and slow flowers under lights, and begin peppers and eggplant for the east side late in the month. Top-dress beds with compost and spread fresh mulch on a dry day. East of the Cascades the ground is still frozen and snow-covered, so the work remains under-lights seed-starting and planning for the brief, intense Columbia Basin growing season ahead.
Zone 5b (eastern valleys & foothills): still snowbound and frozen. Start onions, leeks, and peppers under lights for the short, hot Columbia Basin summer, and keep snow over the perennial beds as insulation.
Zone 7b (Puget lowland & coastal valleys): the real westside gardening season opens. Sow peas, fava beans, spinach, and arugula outdoors as the soil drains, plant bare-root trees and berries, and finish dormant pruning of fruit, roses, and hydrangeas before the buds break.
Zone 8a (Puget Sound shore & San Juan Islands): the mildest pockets in the state — overwintered greens are bolting, so harvest them and sow the first cool-season crops. Divide perennials and plant out hardy starts on the protected island and waterfront soils.
What's at the Farmers Market
February markets still run on storage and the sea. Washington apples hold beautifully from controlled-atmosphere storage — this is a fine time for crisp Cosmic Crisp, Honeycrisp, and Fuji — alongside storage potatoes, carrots, beets, parsnips, celeriac, winter squash, and cabbage from the Skagit and the Basin. Late-stored pears from the Wenatchee and Yakima valleys round out the fruit.
It is still prime Dungeness crab and Pacific oyster season on the Salish Sea, with cold-water oysters from Hood Canal and Willapa Bay at their plump best. Heated westside hoop houses keep up fresh spinach, kale, mâche, and microgreens. Look, too, for the first forced rhubarb and overwintered leeks. Choose firm, heavy apples, keep shellfish iced and tightly closed, and store roots cold and dark to hold their quality through the late winter.
Night Sky This Month
For dark skies, Washington stargazers head east of the Cascade rain shadow. Goldendale Observatory State Park — Washington's flagship public observatory on a hill above the Columbia — is the state's premier dark-sky site, with a large public telescope and winter programs, while Sun Lakes–Dry Falls, the Methow Valley, and the high Columbia Basin offer wide, clear nights. Westside viewers wait for a clearing cold front to glimpse the stars over rain-soaked lowlands.
February still holds the brilliant winter constellations: Orion dominates the south, the Winter Hexagon wheels overhead, and brilliant Sirius sparkles low in the southeast. As the month ends, Leo climbs in the east, the first sign of the spring sky. There is no major meteor shower this month. For exact planet positions and the current aurora outlook for your part of the state, see the printable Washington night-sky guide.
Butterflies & Pollinators
February brings Washington's very first butterflies of the year, all of them adults that overwintered. On a warm, sunny afternoon in the mild Puget lowland, a Mourning Cloak may emerge from behind loose bark to bask and patrol a sunlit woodland edge — often the first butterfly anyone sees. The California Tortoiseshell and overwintering anglewings can stir on the same rare mild days.
The action is earlier and stronger east of the Cascades, where late February sun on the south slopes of the Columbia Gorge and Yakima canyon can coax out the first fresh-brooded butterflies of the year. Most species, though, remain dormant — Sara Orangetip still sleeps as a chrysalis on dry eastern slopes, swallowtails wait as chrysalids on twigs and bark, and the lowland fritillary and admiral caterpillars sit tiny and motionless in leaf litter and on willow stems, weeks from waking.
What to plant for them is in the Washington native plants guide
Trees This Month
February shows the first faint stirrings in Washington's deciduous trees while the conifers hold the landscape. Along every westside creek the red alder hangs heavy with lengthening reddish catkins shedding pollen, and the native Indian plum is already breaking into the season's first green leaves and white flowers — the surest sign that the Northwest spring has begun. Hazelnut dangles its golden catkins, and the buds of bigleaf maple and vine maple swell.
The evergreens remain the backbone: Douglas-fir, western redcedar, western hemlock (the state tree), and coastal Sitka spruce stand dark green and dripping through the rain, while the broadleaf Pacific madrone keeps its glossy leaves on the bluffs. East of the Cascades the open ponderosa pine stands over melting snow, and the bare gray black cottonwoods and quaking aspens along the rivers are still locked in winter dormancy.
The Washington native plants guide covers what grows with them
Weather & Daylight
Across Washington, a typical February day averages a high near 42°F and a low near 27°F, with about 4.3 inches of precipitation — statewide averages from the 1991–2020 U.S. climate normals.
Still chilly and raw, afternoons near 42F feel more like late winter than a turn toward spring, drizzle lingering often.
| Average high | 42°F |
|---|---|
| Average low | 27°F |
| Precipitation | 4.3 in |
| Sunrise (mid-month) | 7:11 PT |
| Sunset (mid-month) | 17:27 PT |
Figures are statewide averages over the 1991–2020 U.S. climate normals; local conditions vary with elevation and distance from the coast. Sunrise and sunset are computed for a midstate point on the 15th (PT).
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One short note when Washington's next month turns — what's arriving, blooming, and worth a night outside.
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Same month elsewhere: February in West Virginia · February in Wisconsin · February in Wyoming