Penn’s tree-lined campus is in bloom, and the community takes advantage of any T-shirt-weather day in the abundance of outdoor spaces for studying, lounging, and some spikeball.
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Ask Alexa, “What’s the forecast for today?” on any day this spring, and the response has ranged anywhere from 30° to nearly 90°, with thunderstorms giving way to blustery winds followed by cloudless skies, all before noon. According to the 2026 Old Farmers’ Almanac long-range forecast—a seasonal, not daily, forecast—“the spring outlook predicts warmer-than-normal temperatures across much of the United States, with a few exceptions.”
Those “few exceptions” have been the norm on Penn’s campus. From the time students left for Spring Break to this week, the campus environment has featured nearly every weather phenomenon but snow, despite being cold enough for flurries at night.
Across campus, when faculty, staff, and students aren’t getting windswept across Locust Walk, the community has enjoyed the blossoming trees turning to a lush green canopy, and has made the most of the highest temperatures. On High Rise Field, students throw footballs, play spikeball, lounge in hammocks, and enjoy the tree-filled campus landscape, which has been part of the Arbor Day Foundation’s Tree Campus Higher Education program for 16 consecutive years for promoting healthy trees and conservation. In 2017, Penn’s campus was officially recognized as an arboretum and botanic garden by The ArbNet Arboretum Accreditation Program. And circling campus from 40th Street on, Mister Softee has made its rounds in pretty much any weather this spring has delivered.
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