Vernal Pond on the Farmstead Trail ( Sony RX100 mark III)
We never learn.
Every year in the first weeks of April, I hear my warmth-loving friends lament the cool weather, and/or the lingering snow as though it were something unusual. But this is April in the Pocono region. Weather-wise, anything can, and does happen. It’s kinda like November, but in reverse.
As I write this, It is April tenth. The morning temperature is in the high twenties, headed for about 40 degrees later today. A half inch of snow has fallen overnight.
Now my childhood memories for this time of year tend to feature blissful afternoons after school. Dressed in shorts and a sweatshirt, it was warm enough to enjoy a pickup game of baseball (remember those) or to ride one’s bike.
The internet however, allows us to review historic weather data, readily available on multiple websites. Turns out this memory of mine is not really typical of early April in the Pocono region of Pennsylvania. In fact I suspect that the warm afternoons I remember are representative of a fluke year, possibly 1967 ( I was 10) when April was rather warm. Most of the rest of my youth, the month was not so blissful.
Apple Trees in April ( Fujifilm X100f)
It takes only a quick trip to the Weather Underground website to discover that at least in my part of Pennsylvania, April starts out with typical high temperatures in the low 50’s and by the 30th of the month typically reaches the low 60’s. Given this, there are opportunities for anything from bonnie summer-like days, to significant snowfall events. And oddly enough these weather swings tend to be fairly typical.
Oh, and by the way, May here is no picnic either.
For instance: in our region, April 2017 was the warmest April on record. The mean high temperature for the month was actually 66°, which is 3-4° higher than the average high temperatures for the very end of April. And the month was warm pretty much from the first, to the 30th with only a few cool spells.
April on the Nescopeck ( Panasonic GH1, Lumix 14-42 f3.5-5.6)
Contrast that was 2016, which at least started out cool like this year prior to slowly warming as the month went on.
So April is the month, when I hedge my bets. Once the snow melts, and the lawn firms up, spring cleanup is certainly reasonable. Early-to-mid April is however waaaay too early to take the plow off my UTV or put away the snow shovels. This is true at least on the ridge-tops here, for as in the fall, spring snowfall events tend to be very altitude dependent.
I think back to April 16, 2007. It was a cold day in the Susquehanna river valley where I spend my workdays. There was a wet snow falling, though it was unable to accumulate on the warm ground. In late afternoon, I drove to my home (which is 13- 1400 feet higher in altitude than the hospital where I was working).
Last of April Snow (Samsung Galaxy S8)
I noticed as I climbed out of the valley, that first the snow started to stick,, and then accumulate, deeper and deeper as I gained elevation. At my home, there was 16 inches on the ground. That was the most robust snowfall event of the season. It was also the greatest accumulation difference valley to mountains I can remember. It is hardly the only significant snow event I remember occurring during the fourth month of the year.
April Snow in the Pine Plantation (Fujifilm X Pro 2, Fujinon XF35mm f1.4)
So my approach with April is typically to stop complaining, and be grateful. For even on the cooler days, it’s not as cold as it would’ve been in January when the sun arcs so much lower in the sky. When it’s warm, I bask in the sunshine and think back to that kid on his bicycle after school.
I have faith that as the weeks pass, the warmth of spring will finally beat back the leftover chill of Winter.
Hopefully in June… towards the end of the month.
