Spring thaw, maybe

Apr. 13 10:15AM 74F

Is spring finally here? The calendar says that the season officially began March 20 but it hasn't acted like it. Despite a few short-lived glimpses of spring, winter nevertheless persisted with below normal temperatures. This week has warmed nicely. I got my motorcycle out for the first time this season. There's considerably more flesh showing today than there's been since fall. I've since looked at local weather data (NOAA NWS) - since March 1, 75% of daily average temperatures have been below the 30 yr average for that date for an overall average of 2.7F below normal.

Here's NASA's analysis of global temperatures for the full month of April. The funny thing about weather is that globally, this April ranked the 3rd warmest in recorded history, though obviously that wasn't the case in the eastern US.

Around the mandala, there's much more green, mostly due to 1) shrubs, 2) skunk cabbage, and 3) grasses. Otherwise, there's fairly typical bird activity including woodpeckers, geese (though not within sight this time), songbirds. There's also new 4-wheeler trails through the forest and stream.