Notes From Minneapolis

For those of you eagerly looking for signs of spring right now, or just enthusiastic about the natural world we inhabit, I have a few local recommendations.

The Updraft blog on MPR News Q wrote yesterday about “diurnal temperature variations,” which are essentially large swings in temperature between morning and afternoon. Paul Huttner writes,

So why the big daily temp swings this time of year?

It turns out several conditions are just perfect for generating the big temp changes.

— Fresh, Deep Snow Cover: Fresh snow radiates very well at night. That allows temperatures to plummet in the overnight hours on clear nights.

— Stronger February Sun: The noon sun angle is now 8 degrees higher than in late December. Overall solar output is more than twice as high as 6 weeks ago. The increased solar energy on sunny days helps boost afternoon temperatures more rapidly than a few weeks ago.

— Coniferous Forests: The pine tree effect up north help to greatly boost daytime temperatures in the northern forests this time of year. The trees are much more efficient “heaters’ of the lower atmosphere as they turn incoming short wave solar radiation into longer wavelengths that are more efficient at heating the surrounding air mass.

And Paul Douglas had this to say on his blog about the prospect of spring about two weeks ago (thank God),

The Climate Center folks at NOAA are convinced that February will wind up warmer than normal, and for that matter so will the next 3 months, through the end of April. I’m not convinced, not yet. Looking out the next 2 weeks or so temperatures will run a good 10 degrees below average, nothing even remotely resembling a real warm front is shaping up through the third week of February. Spring fever? Give it 8 weeks, minimum. Of COURSE it will inevitably snow on the new Twins outdoor stadium, and that (in turn) will make national news, which will just reinforce the old, tired image of Minnesota as a frozen wasteland frequented by Prince and Garrison Keillor. That in turn will keep our population stable and prevent us from becoming “L.A with lakes”, which is a very good thing for all of us. Just a theory. We’ll see.

I also recommend checking out the Twin Cities Naturalist blog. Kirk Mona posted this way back on January 19th,

I noticed something unbelievable this weekend while I was out for a snowshoe hike in the woods. I was searching the tree’s for owls when an unexpected sight caught my eye. The red maple trees already have swelling buds. I think I smiled. I have to admit I’m a little sick of winter. It has been a pretty cold one thus far and the darkness is really getting to me this year. I welcome the return of the sun.

Maple trees with swelling buds is one of those signs of spring that tells us to get the maple syruping supplies ready. The weird thing is we don’t usually see much swelling until it is time to tap the trees in March or maybe very late February. It seems the little warm spell we’ve had is getting the trees thinking about spring. It isn’t just the trees either. I heard the first Black-capped Chickadee of the season singing a spring courtship song in the treetops. Spring is coming, spring is coming, spring is coming.

Other suggestions?