Day Eighty-Two: Out like a lamb?

An old weather proverb is that March comes "in like a lion, out like a lamb."  Some say the phrase has its origins with the constellations Leo, the Lion, and Aries, the ram or lamb. It has to do with the relative positions of these constellations in the sky at the beginning and end of the month.*  Others say that people often believed that bad spirits could affect the weather adversely, so they were cautious as to what they did or did not do in certain situations. Those beliefs often included ideas that there should be a balance in weather and life. So, if a month came in bad (like a lion), it should go out good and calm (like a lamb).**

Regardless of what people have said in the past, I argue that March has been less than decisive about whether it wants to be a lion or a lamb at any point throughout the month this year.  In fact, it's been downright bi-polar. The beginning of the month brought the only snow eastern Kansas really saw all winter.  Three days later, we set a record high of 85 degrees.  Four days after the record high, it was again chilly in Kansas. Rinse and repeat and you have the ups and downs of March. 

Yesterday was, without a doubt, a "lion" day.  The eastern half of the state experienced its first (I think) thunderstorm of the year, and weathered wind gusts of up to 90 mph in some areas.  Driving home from work required two hands on the steering wheel at all times to ensure the car stayed in between the white dotted lane marking; the 20 minute drive felt something like a cross between bumper cars (sans the actual impact) and a roller coaster ride.  The winds died down slightly in the early evening hours, but picked back up again as the storms blew in around 8:30.  Pete, acting as my  touch sensitive tripod, ventured outside with me to try and capture a picture that illustrated just exactly how crazy the wind was.  When a big gust came along, Pete "sensed" when my hair looked the most, um, awesome (?), and I snapped the picture via the remote "detonator".   The haircut I got last week left my hair (by request) pretty short, and although the effect would have been better if I had long locks that could flow in the wind, I think you get the idea of how mighty the wind was, and how fun it was to be out there experiencing it.

The weather forecast for the remainder of March looks like the month may actually redeem itself by hovering around the 60-degree mark, albeit with a couple days of typical rainy, spring weather.  But, I will take that weather any time over 90 mph winds and freezing cold.  Except maybe around Christmas. :)

UPDATE: As of the evening of Tuesday, March 24, they are calling for accumulations of snow this weekend.  It appears the month of March has finally made up its mind: lion.
* Source 1
** Source 2