Saturday, March 16, 2013

"Winter is Just Not Over"

So says the guy in the video on The Weather Channel website, and it's true. Today's highs were in the 20's despite the intense sunshine. The overnight lows were much colder.

One thing that must be accepted without question, is that March is a winter month. I don't know why, but northern Michiganders just can't seem to accept this.

Maybe it's the snowbird tradition, all those Michigan people who head to Florida for the winter, but I don't think so, since its still such a small minority who actually do this. Don't get me wrong- snowbirding is a strong Michigan tradition but most of us have real lives with jobs, kids in school, and TV shows to watch.

Maybe we get spoiled from time to time, like last year when temps this time were in the 80's. Global warming I say, but what do I know. This year the warming has cooled off. Despite warm temps and heavy rain early in the week, our snow and ice pack are firmly in place, and Arctic air has again firmly clamped its fist down on Northern Michigan.

Here's what I know- that the continued cold, snow and bluster is good for our trout streams, good for our fisheries, good for our Great Lakes. Warm spring weather with a sudden runoff is bad- that stockpile of snow rushes into the rivers and is gone quickly, leaving the ground dry and the rivers low. A slow gradual melt like we are having this year keeps the rivers high but not flooded, and allows the snowmelt to sink gradually deep into the ground, feeding the aquifers and keeping the rivers full and cold well into June, and in some years into July. After last years record setting heat, in which many of our trout streams were unfishable because of warm water by the end of June, I am secretly pleased that this year March is very firmly a winter month

So while everyone else is complaining about winter and the continued snow and cold, I'm not.

Bring on the cold.


  1. It was 76 in Denver yesterday. Set a new record. 40s today. Well, we're in a drought and fires are raging already. We need whatever we can get for moisture.

  2. Sound like Howard's echo here, but, it is what it is. Most of our good snow came in late February and early March and is long gone on the Front Range pretty much. Happy to hear that your March is cooperating with you and your local waters.