Winter Remains

The month of March is usually a transition month between bouts of spring-like weather with temperatures slowly rising and spring rains. But it can also lead to some of the worst winter storms and blizzard conditions. It is now officially spring according to the calendar and we have also experienced Daylight Savings Time a few weekends back. We just surpassed the Easter holiday yesterday - which are all typical spring events. With all that is happening, the weather SHOULD turn warmer and more people will be able to enjoy the warmth in the great outdoors. But around these parts, the transition to spring is going pretty slowly thus far. We've had very few days above 40 degrees so far this month and the snowpack has been slow to retreat. The weather has actually been pretty tranquil with plenty of sunny days and calm conditions. We've had a few snow events; but they've only produced minor accumulations of one to four inches with most of the new snow melting soon afterwards. So I guess we can't really complain because it could be a lot worse. But still, people are starting to get pretty anxious for spring weather around these parts. And things don't look to be changing very quickly for a little while.

Like I said before, March is really a wild weather month. I can recall certain March months being really mild and all of the snow melting within a couple of weeks. But in other years, it can end up being our most snowy month. Although we haven't picked up a lot of snow this month, it has been particularly cold. Just last night, in fact, temperatures bottomed out below zero in many locations. This whole winter has been pretty chilly overall. We may not have seen the snow like in years past, but the cold has definitely stuck with us. For those who may have followed the weather headlines this winter across the U.S., you may have heard that many locations to our south in Wisconsin, lower Michigan and Illinois have picked up record amounts of snowfall for the year. The storm track for much of the winter was to our south which is pretty unusual. Typically we're the ones to get blasted by these storms, but yet it's not like we're well below normal in snow totals. Thanks to Lake Superior, we're actually right around average for a typical winter snowfall. It definitely still looks and feels like winter around these parts, that is for sure!

So what is in the forecast for the rest of this month? Well it looks like much of the same kind of weather. Pretty blahzay for the Upper Peninsula's standards with temperatures above freezing, but not much above. Also, the weather conditions will be fairly tranquil with no major storms. Not bad overall, but it would be nice if things could start warming up and we could begin to melt the snowpack. There's no better feeling when you hear the water start running down the streets from the melting snow and the first visible signs of grass starting to show from under the snow banks. And the wonderful smells and sounds of spring; the world beginning to awake from the slumber of winter. It's an amazing experience and I hope to enjoy it here soon.