When Winter Wants To Be Spring

Satellite view of much of New England/New York on a clear
Sunday afternoon. Click on it to make it bigger and easier
to see.  Some notes: You can see much of Lake Champlain
remains ice-free (dark blue). Bare ground, free of snow,
is edging very close to the southwestern and southeastern
tips of Vermont. Champlain Valley looks whiter because
of more farm fields without trees so you see the snow better
Specs of dark green are evergreen forests at high elevations

As a weather geek, I find a lot of those "on the cusp" seasons like we're going through now in Vermont pretty fascinating.  

It's been a truly winter week in Vermont, but spring has been chomping at the bit, begging to be recognized.

 It hasn't been above freezing since last Monday and parts of Vermont were below zero early this morning.  The wind chills have also often been below zero. Dustings of snow have come down here and there. 

Sunday was as bright a winter day as you can get. That brightness under a clear blue sky was all the more intense because of the much higher sun angle this time of year, at least compared to early winter. 

 The sun is as high in the sky now as it was in those Indian Summer days of early October. 

If you stood in a sunny, protected area out of the north breezes on Sunday, it felt like spring. Step out from the sunny spot and you were back in mid-January chill. 

The late winter landscape of Vermont is just as confused as this winter/spring hybrid we get this time of year. In most spots, the snow is crusty, hard, frozen. But the sun is ever so slowly carving hints of spring into what otherwise seemed an impenetrable, permanent blanked of snow and ice. 

Under the pine and spruce trees, the dark green needles collected the heat of Sunday;s sun, and bare spots appeared and expanded beneath the trees, while nearly a foot of snow sat firm just outside the reach of the branches. 

The narrow paths to the shed I carved with a shovel during the winter slowly widened, the sunlight collecting warmth on the grass at the base of the paths, and chewing the snowbanks backwards away from my side. The widening paths are slowly making the winter snow seem less claustrophobic. 

There was even a hint of a squish of mud as I walked down those paths.  

Even on a day as cold as Sunday, dark colors, like this spruce
tree, collected heat from the strong March sun and melted
the snow beneath the tree. A sign of spring on a winter day.

The very white snowbanks along my driveway stayed put, except for corners where the sun's angle was a perfect laser to soften the snow. 

Out by the road, the dirt and grime on the snowbanks also collected the sun's heat. The filthy snow pile by the mailbox quickly retreated, bleeding out a little salty meltwater in the process. 

While I took all this in during my afternoon stroll, the midwinter Canadian north breeze chilled my nose and hands, while my black fleece collected the strong March solar power and kept my core warm.  

These early signs of the melt season proved that spring is eager, even as winter keeps trying to slap the change of seasons backwards.  

This week will be in spring's corner. It'll be a little warmer today, so any sun that comes out will be more effective than Sunday's.

Winter might throw down a handful of pathetic snowflakes or freeze a bit of drizzle to the tree branches late tonight and early tomorrow morning. Yet, an afternoon thaw will set in, slowly melting a little more snow, even in the shade. 

A quick spell of truly springlike air Wednesday and Thursday will erode a lot more snow, but not completely rid of us of it.  Still, less snow will invite more freedom to walk around. I might be able to wander all over my yard without fear deep snow will go over the top of my boots and pour down onto my cold, suffering feet.   

Since it's early March, this taste of a snow meltdown might be short-lived.  For all I know, a snowstorm later this month or in April could punch us in the gut with another quick foot or two of snow. Already, it looks like we'll slide into mid-winter cold again next weekend. Long range forecasts hint at possible snowstorms later in the month.

But as I watched bits of snow dissolve Sunday in the late winter sun, despite a chill north wind, I knew the days of cold and snow are numbered. If we get a bunch of snow again, its lifespan on the ground will be measured in days, not weeks like the snow that fell on us back in January and February. .

Crocuses loom not far behind.