Thursday, March 2, 2017

Spring, Or Not

February in Wisconsin is typically cold, and despite only have 28 days three out of four years, can seem very long.  The holidays are over, it's cold, there is usually snow on the ground, and have I mentioned that it's cold? 

Here's what it says at the web site www.weatherspark.com:

Temperature

The month of February is characterized by rising daily high temperatures, with daily highs increasing from 29°F to 37°F over the course of the month, exceeding 49°F or dropping below 15°F only one day in ten.

Daily High and Low Temperature in February

 
The daily average low (blue) and high (red) temperature with percentile bands (inner band from 25th to 75th percentile, outer band from 10th to 90th percentile).
 
The shortest day is Feb 1 with only 9:56 hours of daylight, but by the end of the month we're having 11:12 hours of daylight.  Of course some of that daylight is cloudy, overcast, and snowy.
 
People in other parts of the country are talking spring.  Buds are coming up in the state of Washington, where my youngest brother lives.  <sigh>  My boss in Charlotte NC told us last Friday that it was 80 degrees and sunny.  <I hate him!> <not really>
 
So what's up with this year??  The actual temperature has been in the forties and ffties, and one day it was 71!  Gasp!!
 
Then this happens:
 
Sat 2/25
Actual Temp
28° /20°
Hist. Avg.
36°/22°
 
and yesterday there was a snowstorm that started at 10:00 a.m. and went through dinnertime. 
 
"Take that," says Mother Nature!  "See what happens to you when you forget where you're living???  Did you think this was, oh, say, Tennessee or Georgia? Ha ha!  I'll show you!!"
 
Mar 2
                  High 36° / Low 16°F                    
Mainly cloudy, a snow shower
 
One local weather forecaster quipped that since it had been warm so recently, it was going to feel just that much colder to be at the normal temperature.
 
Spring or not spring, that is the question.  Honestly, no matter what the groundhog says, in Wisconsin there is always six more weeks of winter!
 
Sew on...