On Thursday, March 2, we got 7 inches (18cm) of snow. Some of you are probably fainting in your chairs: “Seven inches of snow! In March!” but my cold climate readers are surely not surprised. Actually, in March, no weather is surprising, and there have been plenty of winters when we would be saying “thank goodness it’s only 7 inches!”
What I find most interesting is that this snowstorm was one of the heaviest, perhaps the heaviest, of the whole winter. Now that’s surprising! The only snowstorm that came close occurred on December 9, 2005. We didn’t measure that accumulation ourselves, but someone else from our area reported 6.8 inches to the National Weather Service. Since it’s doubtful that we will have another storm with a greater accumulation, I’m thinking of these two storms as the bookends to this weird, wacky winter.
About Kathy Purdy
Kathy Purdy discovered the joys of writing in fourth grade, when she started corresponding with a former classmate. She's been writing letters ever since, first on looseleaf, then electronically, and now as weblog entries. That makes you, the blog reader, her pen pal. Her first independent (though frustrating) attempts at gardening were made in high school, though the gardening bug didn't bite hard until her mid-thirties, when she found herself mistress of a rural home on 15 acres. • USDA Hardiness Zone:4 • AHS Heat Zone: 3 • Location: rural; Southern Tier of NY • Geographic type: foothills of Appalachian Mountains • Soil Type: acid clay • Experience level: intermediate • Particular interests: colchicums, narcissus, cottage gardening, NY native plants, gardening with/for children
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I agree that it has been a wacky winter. usually we have lots of sunshine as well as snow in January. Well, we had one of the darkest Jan. I’ve seen up here in th U.P., even my geraniums in a bright south window got leggy. And it was warm, sloggy weather – not too characteristic of this north country. It finally got really cold and windy just in time for the big sled dog races we have up here – the UP200 (240 mi) and the Midnight Run ( 90 mi.all night run). The windchill was -30 to -40 with part of it in such blowing snow they had to hold it up for several hours. Now we have huge piles of snow and probably 3 feet on the ground. I do have to get my tomato seeds planted so they will be ready to put in the Wals o’Water, and I did get some leftover bulbs planted which are now poking up, but the rest of the plans are in my head. We could have lots of snow in March!
Yep. It’s March in lower Michigan, so I expect one more good burst of snow – just a few inches for us, but possibly as late as the end of the month.
Last year we had snow in April. That’s not normal, and was traumatic, but all was well. Nature knows her meets and bounds.