Spring? Maybe. Probably not. We’ve all seen the meme about the twelve seasons, which can be applied to most states, but often does seem to describe North Carolina’s crazy weather shifts. In fact, someone at the NC State Climate Office did some research that showed the 12-season description is actually surprisingly accurate.

Right this moment I think we’re in the Spring of Deception.  Just a few weeks ago we had ten inches of snow over three inches of sleet. Temperatures stayed below freezing for almost a solid week and then barely went over the freezing mark at midday for several more, so it took almost two weeks for all the frozen gunk to disappear.

This past week daytime high temperatures were in the seventies and even hit eighty on one day. As a result, the daffodils are putting on a show. Crocus, hellebore, forsythia, and camellias are blooming. The early flowering fruit trees are beginning to show off their colorful, short-lived, flowery apparel. It’s beautiful, but don’t let it fool you.

The current long-range forecast shows the Spring of Deception lasting through most of this week, with daytime highs predicted to reach the eighties on a couple of days, then temperatures sink to more normal levels for this time of year, with highs in the fifties for some days thereafter. There’s even one day next week showing the dreaded words “snow showers” as part of the prediction.

That’s more than a week away, so no point in getting too excited about it right now. But it does illustrate the point that spring hasn’t really arrived yet.  There’s a reason that the last frost date for this area of the country is April 15. There’s no point in planting anything vulnerable to frost before then.

But, by golly, I’m enjoying the nice weather right now!