The past several years have seen dry and somewhat mild early springs. This isn’t typically what New Englanders are used to, nor is it normal, and it’s important to remember this. That said, this March seems particularly cruel.

Just how cold has it been? Our average temperature so far this March is colder than the average for December, January, and February!

In February, those three days of 70-degree weather, bare ground, flowers and sunshine really created a false sense of an early spring. Once March arrived, the mercury tumbled, snow fell, and winter’s resurgence has been deplored by many.

The pattern setting up over the next week is going to bring lots of clouds, multiple chances of precipitation, and temperatures on the cooler side. I don’t see any big snowstorms, but there is a chance for accumulating snow during the period at least over northern New England and perhaps even in the hillier terrain to the south.

The reason for the cold is, of course, the jet stream. The band of winds at around 30,000 feet carries storms and divides warm and cold air masses. As long as the jet stream remains to our south, the weather will continue to be chilly.


The black lines represent the jet stream and it will remain south of New England much of the time through early April. Tropical Tidbits

A wet and cold pattern might not be what you would like, but it’s also not all bad.

After the big snow of 2015 melted, the ground had very little moisture and there wasn’t any mud season to speak of in spite of all that snow. The state has seen drought conditions ever since.

Typically, spring is unsettled, cloudy, wet, somewhat snowy and cold. March is our wettest month and April is notorious for frustrating those looking for summer. We often see regular rain and even snow.

This hasn’t been the case the past couple of years. While this weather won’t be great for getting outside, including early season fielding practice, rounds of golf, or even a run, it is an important part of bringing us out of the drought and ensuring we don’t have bigger problems this spring and summer.


This isn’t to say it’s going to be wet for the next three weeks. But you’ll need some psychological fortitude to make it through a rather dreary period ahead.

The loop below simply shows if temperatures will be above (red) or below (blue) average in the coming 10 days. Notice New England continues to basically remain more in blue, thus colder than average, into early April. The greatest area of warmth remains to our west and south. This is typically what happens in early spring, as the cold North Atlantic wafts chilly air repeatedly into the Northeast.

I’ll leave you with a map of a longer-range forecast offering hope for those who would like to see some warm weather. High temperatures are forecast to reach the 70s as we begin the second week of April. Of course, this is a 14-day forecast and holds not a lot of reliability, but, as they say, hope springs eternal. Spring warmth will arrive eventually.

Temperatures are forecast to become warm for the second week of April, but don’t rely too much on such a long-range forecast. Tropical Tidbits

Follow Dave Epstein on Twitter: @growingwisdom