The Spring of 2026

I am a born and raised Wisconsin girl. Whenever I run into anyone from the southern states who have never visited here, I get the same response. They think I live in the Arctic and have only cold weather all year long. Wisconsin equals Tundra and the Green Bay Packers. They think we never see any warm weather. Little do they know that we really do have four seasons. Summer can get very warm, sometimes a 100 degrees. Fall is usually nice with beautiful colored trees and mild temperatures. Winter is cold but we usually don't have a ton of snow here in south central Wisconsin. We have wonderful efficient heating systems. I go by how many times I need to have my driveway plowed. I usually only need it plowed twice in the winter and then there is spring. Spring is a mixture of all of the seasons put together. There is a saying in Wisconsin that says if you don't like the spring weather just wait a couple hours. 

This spring is no exception. We have had it all. The month of March has been a challenge. We have had temperatures in the mid-sixties which felt like 80 degrees to us. We have had migrating birds show up. 

We have had sunny days and foggy days. Then when we get comfortable and think our winter is over, BAM we get hit with a big snowstorm. It usually happens around the state basketball tournaments. This year it was the girl's tournament. Fortunately the worst of it didn't happen until after the games were completed. 

The full moon was on March 3. It was clear and beautiful. This was the Worm Moon because it usually coincides with the ground thawing. That means the earthworms can emerge. 

There was still a little snow and ice on the water but it felt like spring was in the air.  The Sandhill Cranes had returned and the world was coming to life.

On Monday of last week it was a beautiful day. Temperatures were in the 60's and it was nice and sunny. I opened all my windows to air out the house. I sat on my deck and had coffee. Life was grand. I watched as the Sandhill Cranes were picking out a nesting spot. The Wood Ducks, the Ring-necked ducks and the Hooded Mergansers were resting after a long migration. The ice was out so they had a landing spot. The Canadian geese and Ring-beaked gulls were also busy flying around.

 

 

Tuesday March 10 was also a nice day. When the weather warms up quickly and there are high winds the ice on the lakes and rivers breaks up. Sometimes it pushes the ice to the shore. They are called Ice Shoves. I heard that there were ice shoves on Lake Winnebago. Lake Winnebago is the largest inland lake in Wisconsin and it is about 45 minutes east of where I live. I thought I would take a drive. It is always amazing to see the beauty and power of the shoves. I wrote about them in 2017. https://www.thecabincountess.com/search?q=Lake+Winnebago The shoves that year came ashore as big sheets of ice. This year they looked like large ice cubes.

Wednesday through Friday were just normal and quite cool spring days. I heard that we were expecting some snow over the weekend, but I didn't pay much attention. There is always a snowstorm during the Wisconsin state basketball tournament so I should have been aware. The storm was to arrive on Saturday. Saturday wasn't bad. It was sunny in the morning but then the clouds rolled in. It started to rain and sleet and then snow. With the rain we didn't have a huge accumulation. I measured about 5 inches, but phase 2 was on it's way. Overnight we got more snow and then the winds started to blow. By Monday, one week after our nice warm day, we had more than a foot of snow. Places north of me got in excess of 24 inches of snow. It was a whopper of a storm. In one day, this is the progression of the storm.

Now it's time to dig out. Schools and businesses were closed. It was suggested that people not drive on the roads because they were dangerous and the plows needed to work clearing the roads. I don't remember such a big storm in a very long time. The good thing about spring storms is that they melt quickly. It is supposed to be warming up again by the weekend. Hopefully the frost is out of the ground and the melting snow will soak into the ground and not cause flooding. 

It is St. Patrick's Day today. Our usual celebration did not take place this year. It is the first time in many years I did not make corned beef and cabbage. I had the ingredients but it got put in the freezer for a better time. As my daughter's mother in law said, "Leprechauns are tricksters". The trick this year was a snow storm. The celebration will have to be at a later date. The little fellow's house looks pretty deserted at this point anyway. Maybe I will get a Shamrock Shake to tied me over. 

We still have two weeks of this month to go. Who knows what will be in store for us. Hopefully it will be sunshine and flower blooms. I guess we will have to wait and see.