March!

February’s quadrennial refusal to relinquish the month is past us; it is now March. As was reported today by our local, historically March 1st the single snowiest day of the year in Helena. It does not look like we will get a lot more, but it did snow overnight. With yesterday’s 60° f (15.5°c) and this morning’s 30°f (-1°c), there will be ice on the paved portions of my early walk. As Helena enters its bi-polar weather pattern for the next 45 days or so, nano spikes. Like the Labrador, will be my constant companion.

Mornings will be icy and afternoons will be muddy. So be it. We will ‘suffer’ through the moisture and hope that we get enough of it to keep the fire season low in the late summer and fall.

This week, the first week of March is, again historically, the snowiest week of the year in Helena. Since the weather doesn’t give a rip about our dreamt-up Julian Calendar, and since we got a decent amount of snow last week, we may not get a lot more this week- but (last weather trivia factoid) March is the 3rd snowiest month of the year- so more is nearly assured before we melt into spring.

The snow from last week has been melting really fast, and the low lying areas of the valley are already showing a lot of standing water. I hope we get enough overnight cooling to allow it to soak into the ground rather than just run off.

Our basin is sitting at about 70% of the average snowpack right now. Not enough to breathe a sigh of relief, but less worrisome than several other areas in the state. California is supposed to get another atmospheric dump and the jetstream patterns look like some that moisture will make it to Montana. All good.

Personally, March tends to be our second best month for birding (I’m discounting January, since the counting year starts over and we always get 40-50 birds in January) and I sometimes catch a glimpse of the first flower of the year in March as well- Phlox is amazingly hardy.

February ended with only finding 7 new-for-the-year species of birds. I’m hopeful for 40+ in March- 60 would be a record (fingers crossed).

Anyway- time marches on and my hiking/birding/wildflowering year is starting to come out of hibernation. I’m ready for the hills.