Spring is REALLY Here

I surfed this afternoon from what I will call a '2006 European heat wave after effect wind swell.'  In July 2006 Europe suffered a historic heat wave.  Eventually cooler air from the ocean moved in to replace the stagnant heat wave air during August, causing an exceptional period of cloudy, cool, and dreary weather.  A very similar situation is occurring right now, here.  The middle of the country is overheating under a stagnant air mass, and here in the Northeast cooler air is flowing in off the ocean in an attempt to soothe the heat in the interior.  A soft easterly wind has been blowing in from the ocean for a few days causing low clouds, drizzle, cool temperatures, and a small fun windswell.


March 16th current temperatures at 9:15 pm.  It is the same temperature in St Paul, Minnesota as Orlando, Florida.  You can see the cooler air in the Northeast from the 2006 European heat wave puff of air off the ocean to cool the interior effect.  The only thing saving the Northwest from being warm is the mountains and persistent wet weather and clouds piling up behind the warm bubble.

The ocean really isn't even that cool.  I had no problem going underwater- it actually felt refreshing because it seemed I was over geared in my 5/4/3.  That my boots were leaking upon entrance into the water didn't even matter.  It actually felt good.  I thought I saw some splashes the other day, but I know that was just my brain playing tricks on my eyes.  It won't be long until life returns out there I know.  I hope it's not the kind of life that drives seals onto the beach, though.  I saw one seal hanging out on the sand in the dark during my morning run the other day and another one this afternoon.

I always remember March being windy, wild, stormy, and a tumultuous change from winter to summer- kind of like the stereotypical teenager changing from a child to an adult.  I think some lazy parents gave their formerly rambunctious teen too many tranquilizers this month . . .

Flat line temperature in Washington DC with highs in the middle to upper 70s no less.

The Fairgrounds Swingers Club decided to hike atop Mt Washington in New Hampshire and found that weather in one of the windiest places in the world was surprisingly delightful and tranquilized as well . . .

When it's nice enough to take your shirt off on Mt Washington and the high breaks 80F in Chicago for 3 consecutive days in the middle of March you can see it.

Historic March weather . . .

But will the warmth this March beat the legendary warmth of March 1910 that no one has probably ever heard of before?  I don't think so, because there is probably too much warmth to the north of us that will moderate the temperature.  That freak event, March 1910, was pretty incredible and it really stands out in the temperature record.

It's going to be hard to beat 1910, but if you focus your eyes enough you will see that there have been a lot less cool March temperatures since at least 1990.  It may not be like March 1910 every spring nowadays, but it never cools off as much as it used to.

I'm still on standby for the fishing and I'm not going to do it until they're in my backyard in the surf.  I don't have a crystal ball, only a brain that works like a computer, and when I compress everything together in it I think I will be casting sometime in the middle of April.  Until then I will enjoy some small warm waves and seal spotting . . .