March is mud season. The calendar tells us spring officially arrives later this month but the weather doesn’t start acting like spring until well into April. March is a bud swelling month. Pussy willows, red twig dog woods, snow drops, crocus, bloodroot, and the first violets tells us it won’t be long before we can cut our long johns off.

March can be a heavy wet snowstorm that sticks to everything. A hike in the woods, after one of these storms, is just what the doctor ordered. This month can also be a freezing rain storm that turns the landscape into rock candy. Staying home poking at the fire with a good book in your lap is hopefully what the boss recommends on this day.

Spring is moving north at a rate of approximately twenty miles per day. For example a red maple may start to open along the Chesapeake Bay by mid March. The same tree will not start to bloom for another two weeks at the mouth of the Hudson. In the hills, up in our region, spring arrives in the valley first and climbs up the hill at a rate of approximately 100ft per day. One advantage of living on top of the mountain is watching spring climb up the ridge. Then again hiking down the mountain, on a warm sunny afternoon, is a natural change we should all try this spring.

March is a windy month. One week the winds will be blowing like a madman out of the north and it can feel like January. The next week the air can be flying out of the south with an Indian summer feel. During on e of these warm spells this time of year compare our mid day temperatures to temperatures along the Atlantic coast. The temp may differ by as much as twenty degrees colder on Long Island than in the Hudson Valley Region. The cold Atlantic Ocean is the reason for this temp difference. The North Atlantic is coldest this time of year and it takes a month or more to bring these temp differences back to normal.

March can bring spring floods. As the snow pack melts, from warmer weather, and as heavy spring rain falls ice jams on rivers can cause flood problems. There are some simple natural solutions to this type of flooding. Keeping hills forested and wetlands in place will divert and absorb much of spring’s heavy water flow. Keeping riparian zones, these are areas adjacent to rivers and streams, heavily wooded with trees, shrubs, perennials, and vines not lawns will help keep real estate in place. March 21st, the vernal equinox, is the first full day of spring but in our region spring weather is still about a month away.

Pete and The Natives