Forget calendar … use nature to mark spring’s arrival
THERE is a common argument that rages around this time of year, and occasionally on the letters page of this very newspaper: when exactly does spring start?
By the reckoning of many it is March 1. That is according to the meteorological calendar that divides the seasons into three-month quarters split to neatly coincide with our Gregorian calendar.
Normally I’m a fan of this definition, not least as it hurries a long and dragging winter off and on its way.
But it must be said that the meteorological definition of spring has its limitations. For the weather this weekend, and indeed next week, is looking decidedly bleak.
An arctic maritime air mass is sending temperatures plunging and ushering in flurries of snow. This will not be at the same levels of March 2018’s “Beast from the East”, but it does have the same root cause: a sudden stratospheric warming. It is a common event that occurs most winters and can lead to large blocking areas of high pressure ushering in cold polar air.
And so perhaps the other definition of spring is more applicable – this year on March 20, or the beginning of astronomical spring. It is the moment when the spring equinox occurs and daylight is once again in the ascendancy over night. But that is more than a fortnight away which, frankly, is an interminable wait.
I feel the answer to escaping this seasonal purgatory lies in adopting a phenological approach – that is disregarding the human calendar and noting the arrival of spring through nature, which will often disregard any cold snap. The blackthorn is beginning to blossom, I’ve noticed, and I’m currently straining to hear the first chiffchaff of the year.
The curlews are back on the moors near my home and the skylark will soon be striking up. Set against their irrepressible song, winter can only outstay its welcome for so long.*