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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883
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Weathercatch: March lion makes sheepish appearance

Nic Loyd and Linda Weiford Washington State University

If the idiom, in like a lion, out like a lamb, holds true for March, then the lion has barely roared this year. With the exception of some scattered snow flurries on March 1, the lion of winter appears to have departed from the Inland Northwest.

Though we’ve had sporadic rain and wind – and even hail in some parts of Spokane on Monday – temperatures for the most part have been, well, lamb-like.

The day after it flurried, the mercury shot up to a high of 51 in Spokane, compared to the average high for that date of 44. Wintry temperatures haven’t returned, nor are they expected to. The rest of March should bring above-normal temperatures to the Pacific Northwest – as should April and May, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Climate Prediction Center.

So while March typically straddles the fence between winter and spring, this year it leaped abruptly onto the spring side. Not only that, but the season’s first official day is still a week-and-a-half away.

We saw similar mild temperatures in March 2015. This doesn’t mean that earlier-than-usual blooming crocuses and trilling frogs are the new normal.

The surge in warmth has been driven largely by a powerful El Nino, a naturally occurring weather pattern in the waters of the tropical Pacific Ocean that exerts influence around the globe. Although El Nino peaked in January and will continue to weaken over the next few months, it continues to impact weather conditions in the western U.S., delivering heavy rains to California and mild temperatures here in the Pacific Northwest.

With atypical warmth, longer days and a sun hanging higher in the sky, a strengthening jet stream will thrust rain showers and stormy conditions into much of the state through this weekend and perhaps longer.

Even so, the early opening of tulip and daffodil blossoms should add some zest to the gray.

Nic Loyd is a meteorologist with Washington State University’s AgWeatherNet. Linda Weiford is a WSU news writer and weather geek.