Death to winter; long live spring and summer

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“The first day of spring is one thing, and the first spring day is another. The difference between them is sometimes as great as a month.”
— Henry Van Dyke

I’m not saying the sun isn’t shining as you read this (it’s always tricky to write about the weather) but the forecast looked dreadful this week. Three weeks past the vernal equinox and a week past Easter and Passover, snow was forecast for part of the Northeast. And those who were spared more snow were to be hit with cold rain. The sun is in the right place in the heavens, but nothing else is.

The crocuses are a tease. Unlikely flowers, pretty in purple, poke their heads into the grass. They wear frost on their petals. I wear a wool hat, gloves and a storm coat. What’s up with this?

Spring has made its official debut, but winter doesn’t want to unclench its fist. I don’t know how they do it, but the prognosticators at the Farmers’ Almanac got it right again this year. Remember the polar vortex and the relentless snowstorms of early 2014? The editors at the almanac predicted it all. Then again, last August, they accurately predicted another big chill for this winter. They wrote, “Shivery and shovelry are back. We’re calling for some frigid conditions, bitter conditions.” Managing Editor Sandi Duncan said the winter would be colder than normal and wetter than usual for states east of the Mississippi.

The people at the almanac say they base their predictions on analyses of sunspots, planetary positions and the phases of the moon. The National Weather Service, which bases its forecasts on the most advanced meteorological technology, pretty much got it all wrong. Its scientists said that an El Nino would create a milder-than-average winter. And neither agency can hold a candle to the squirrels in my yard that grew super-thick coats last fall.

We will long remember the snow and ice of 2015, the power of Snowstorm Juno and the nearly three feet of powder that fell on Worcester, Mass., in one day, but there have been other memorable snowstorms and blizzards. Remember the Great Snow of 1717? Four storms left the Northeast under four feet of powder and drifts up to 25 feet high. (No snow blowers then.)

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