Where's Spring?!

Winter just doesn't want to let go of it's grip on us this year.  We got another snowstorm last night and today it looks like January instead of April!

Here's what our gardens looked like last year on April 2, 2012:

We've had four weekends in a row with snowstorms in late March and through April.  Spring just can't make any headway here in Wisconsin.

So, what might be causing this "stuck" weather pattern that we're in?  One theory for this is called "arctic amplification."

I first heard about this from meteorologist, Paul Huttner in his blog.  His quick explanation of arctic amplification is that it works like this:

1.  A warmer Arctic reduces temp contrasts between the poles and tropics.
2. Less temps contrast = slower jet streams.
3. Deeper, more "amplified "Rossby Waves" (that change weather patterns) get stuck in place for longer periods.
4. Stuck jet streams = fewer changes and more persistent droughts, floods, cold outbreaks, etc.

Next time you watch the weather report, take a look at the maps showing jet streams and fronts. They're always in curvy, wavy lines.  So, the longer and wider the curves of the jet streams, the slower they move, apparently.

As gardeners, we set our gardening patterns on the weather patterns for planting, pruning, harvesting and enjoying.  Who knows, maybe this arctic amplification theory is right?  Or maybe it's just one of many reasons to explain the late spring we're having.  Either way, I can't wait to see the daffodils again!

If you'd like to learn more about arctic amplification, here's a really good and fairly easy to understand video by Jennifer Francis of Rutgers University.