Reality Check

Spring (March 20) arrived at 6:02 am CST.  The sun is exactly over the equator with the day divided equally.  Makes you feel all warm and fuzzy?  Nope, not here in good old central Illinois.  It's below freezing (19 degrees) and wind chills in the single digit - they are predicting a "significant" snow storm towards the end of the week.

This weekend is Palm Sunday.  Why Why Why are we having snow?  And then....I remembered why my mother always made a beautiful coat to match my Easter dress.  Easter is often cold with bad weather.

Let's walk down spring's memory lane:

The most snow that's ever fallen in April was on 1997 with 13.3 inches.  Can I hear a collective "Yikes"!

The average snow for April is 1.3 inches.  We had snow on Easter Sunday 2008.

Average temperature for April is 63 degrees.  Warmest day was 93 and coldest was 7.  March 2012 was the warmest in history which is probably why we're a little peckish this year.

In April 2011, there were 362 tornadoes in a 24 hour period; a record.  Easter Sunday 2010 had the first tornado watch of the year and first severe thunderstorm warning. 

April 2011 tallied up 6,219 severe weather reports, 871 tornadoes, 2,054 instances of hail, and 3,294 for high winds.  My handy dandy weather alert system had some serious overtime. 

2009 was the wettest on record. April 2010 tied 1915 for the warmest in history.  We started Spring 2011 being 1.22 inches above average rainfall.  What a difference a year makes.

For bird watchers:   You should now see flocks of robins, red winged blackbirds, Canada geese, killdeer, sandhill cranes (overhead), wood ducks, and in a couple of weeks the courtship, nesting and mating rituals start. 

In the garden:  Red maples should have started blooming/mine haven't.  Last year on March 19, my tulips and other perennial bulbs were up about 2 inches and my crocus were blooming.  They are up this year and have all been nipped by the cold and snow.  My crocus are closed tight and even though it's a cold day, maybe the sun will bring them to full bloom.

A spring reality check!