Tuesday, 3/28

Sad to say, I don't think we're gonna make it.

I think I may have complained (once or twice, he says snarkily) about how we've had a bad month and a half, at least as far as the weather goes. We've had more snow in the past five weeks than we did the rest of the winter, and it's been colder in March than in parts of January and February.

Just part of our new weather normal, sad to say.

Another part of that new normal may be one of those strange streaks that I notice and obsess about every so often. Nope; this one is not my streak of wearing shorts while running at least once a month (March is safely in the books), but it's this--

For only (as far as I can tell) the fourth time this century, we won't have at least one day in March where the temperature hits at least 60. And that's a bummer.

Surprisingly, we haven't had a “cold” month in March; in fact, temperatures for the month are actually a degree above average (showing just how much warmer January and February were this year). Despite our massive snowfall temperatures have been hanging around where they normally do. But there haven't been any of those “out sized” days we've gotten used as the century wears on. Normally, we have one (or more) nice days that served as a tease for Spring. Those have included days where we've hit 80 in during the first week of the month or 79 on St. Patrick's Day.

But this March? Nope. In fact, the high temperature for March of 2023 has been (so far) 47 degrees back on the Ides of March. That's a far cry from the beach weather we've had in the past. Heck, that's barely warm enough to swap a winter jacket for a sweatshirt. And with the forecast calling for temps in the 30s the rest of the week, it doesn't look like that's gonna change any time soon.

I do have hope we'll get there soon, though. After all, Lake Superior—the single biggest factor in determining our Spring weather—did not freeze over this winter, which means that the water will warm up quicker than usual and (hopefully) not throw a force field of cold over us like it so often does. That also bodes well for a warm summer.

But a warm March, even if for just a day? I guess we'll have to wait until 2024 for that. And that is a bit of a bummer in and of itself. After all, we've kind of gotten used to at least one nice day in March this century.

(jim@wmqt.com)