Marching Along to Spring

The "bush" in the creek is the roots of a large ash
toppled by flooding rains and high winds.

March came in like the proverbial lion at Bean Hill, although polar bear might have been the more appropriate animal simile. An arctic blast dropped temperatures during the first week dramatically: March 5's daytime temperature was 29 degrees below the historic average; the night was 20 degrees below average. It seems as if we had a lot of snow this month, but in reality we only had a couple of inches, half of the expected amount.

Although temperatures moderated somewhat after the polar bear bit us, the month's overall highs and lows were below normal by 3.5-4 degrees, respectively. The real story (or the continuing story) is the rain. For a year now, most months have seen more---much more---rain than "normal". Rainfall in March was 1.88" above normal. Couple all the rain we've had for months with the wind storms we've had, and the result is more and more trees are toppling over in the Jersey Woods.

The last snow of March fell the day before the Spring Equinox. It didn't last long, but a combination of temperature, humidity, a weak rising sun, and a cloudy western sky made for some odd lighting effects. My camera captured some of sky colors (below), but wasn't able to capture the feel of the scene. The daytime high reached 52 degrees, so the snow vanished pretty quickly---as did the interesting but kind of eerie light display.

Light snow on mowed meadows and weird light over the Carr Farm

The Spring Equinox is always a welcome point in the Earth Year. We move into the most magical and hopeful of seasons in which every day there is some new and exciting sign of life. There are more birds and more variety of bird songs, and more animals making an appearance. The pond gets cleaned, and, of course, the crocuses bloom.