Publisher’s Notebook

• Spring Has Sprung •

ANNE SOBLE

Imagine the difficulty one has explaining to an eclectic mix of visitors that March weather does not always include bikini temperatures and that the cool and rainy weather gear they trudged with them might not have been for naught. Entangled miserably in jumbled aphorisms, such as March may have come in like a lamb, it’s going to go out like a lion, fell on deaf ears. Sun-glorious March days bordered on wicked for the Lake Woebegone kin.
Even though this season’s rains, however greatly appreciated, were not enough to make a dent in overall drought conditions, they were enough to smooth the way for wonderful wildflowers. The verdant hillsides were showy, but not ostentatious, at least until several days of barely moderate Santa Anas kicked the drying-out process into gear.
This Tuesday’s rainclouds provide a glimmer of hope that some rain this week could put a temporary halt to the drying and the need to start checking the Smokey Bear signs for moderate to high wildfire conditions. As weather forecasters are sounding the death knell, or at least the impotence. of the current El Niño, the possibility of rainfall of respectable proportions tempers the meteorological lament.
While pulling out of the driveway Tuesday morning on my way to the production marathon involved in putting the newspaper to bed, there was sprinkling on my windshield—the kind that marks the glass but isn’t enough to warrant turning on the wipers. What is needed is enough rain to not only wash down our cars, but also soak anything else.
The National Weather Service is holding out the possibility of a few lusty thunderstorms through Thursday that might even give our average precipitation totals a bit of a nudge, but not near what we need. As for the recent beach weather, that could give way to the kind of cold nights that preceded it and kept local furnaces doing what they are supposed to do when the thermometer drops down low.
Whatever the largess from a mid-week storm, the possibility of another soaker from Sunday to Monday is welcome. Forecasters are a lot more iffy about the rainfall prospects from this front, but in times of drought, beggars can’t be choosers.
This year. the general assessment is that the rains may last through April. So there may be several April showers that will produce May flowers, unless some headstrong Santa Anas intervene and decide to produce May dried grasses.
Whatever the state of the clouds, we all have much to celebrate as we sit down at our Easter, Pascua, Passover or Equinox tables laden with spring’s bounty. Revel in the joys of these holidays and celebrate the rebirth that we all can experience when we are in sync with the universe.