The very worst of winter, thankfully, behind us now

5:22 PM Saturday, January 30, 2010

The beauty of a seasonal inventory is that there is never a correct number of things to find. The end of winter always appears in the eye of the beholder, and critical mass for the arrival of spring rests less on the total quantity of observations than on one crucial scent or sight or sound that tips the scales of private time. Each person encounters that pivotal event at a different moment and in a different way. Whenever that realization does occur, then the entire scaffolding of the old year collapses and all the pieces of the new year take on meaning as they fall into place.

— Poor Will’s Notebook

This week

The Skunk Cabbage Moon enters its final quarter at 6:49 p.m. on Feb. 5. Rising in the evening and setting in the morning, this waning moon is over Springfield before dawn.

Lunar position this week favors the planting of root crops in flats under lights. You can bring the sprouts outside into the sun on warm days and place them directly in the garden in four to six weeks.

Fishing is expected to be best near sunrise (when the moon is above you and the fish), especially as the barometer falls in advance of cold fronts due Feb. 3, 6 and 11.

The waning moon is relatively weak during this part of the month, creating a positive window for surgery and trips to the dentist.

This is also a good time to dip your animals for parasites, finish winter worming, trim hooves and prepare for birthing. Also vaccinate ewes and does that are due to lamb in March.

The weather

This week is usually a brisk one in Clark County, with high temperatures in the 30s or below occurring two days in three. The likelihood of below-zero temperatures falls to half of what it was last week, however. That means the very worst of winter is over.

On Feb. 6, the length of a day in Clark County surpasses 10 hours and 20 minutes, making the night an hour shorter than it was when the days first started to grow on Dec. 26. The sun reaches 40 percent of the way to equinox by Feb. 12.

The 15th of winter’s 16 cold fronts usually arrives in Springfield on Feb. 11. Just one more front to go until early spring!

Daybook

Feb. 1: Skunks can be out during the gentle, wet nights of the Groundhog Day Thaw. Sparrows are mating in the trees, and the great morning chorus that lasts deep into summer is well underway, the grackles whistling and chattering, the crows and cardinals and doves joining in. The earliest robins and bluebirds have now arrived to eat crab apples and the last honeysuckle berries.

Feb. 2: Zeitgebers (events in nature that tell the time of year) for this week include early sightings of turkey vultures and the arrival of pollen of mountain cedar, acacia, smooth alder, bald cypress, American elm, red maple, white poplar, black willow and bluegrass from the South, carried on the winds of the Groundhog Day Thaw. Six weeks from today, the hardiest of spring cabbages and kales can be set out in most gardens.

Feb. 3: The first February weather system typically arrives near this date, breaking the relatively mild weather of the Groundhog Day Thaw.

Feb. 4: In northern Mexico, monarch butterflies are moving toward the Texas border. They will reach the Gulf coast in small groups during mid- to late March, and their offspring will find Clark County in May.

Feb. 5: Easter is only two months away. Have your newly weaned lambs and kids ready for this market. Then pull back some garden mulch to allow soil to dry out and warm up.

Feb. 6: The cold front that arrives near this date is the last really bad one until Snowdrop Winter arrives near Feb. 24. The moon’s entry into its mild fourth quarter today could soften the chill.

Feb. 7: Bees come looking for skunk cabbage when temperatures warm to 50 degrees. Deer gather throughout the month to feed in herds. Turkeys are flocking now, but they will disband and scatter into smaller family groups by April.

Mind and body clock

This is the time to get ready for maple sap time. New moon on Feb. 13 should begin the early-spring “running of the sap,” building to its peak at full moon on the last day of the month.

Seasonal affective disorders remain strong this week, hovering between 67 and 65 on the S.A.D. Stress Index (which measures seasonal stress on a scale of 1 – 75). Even though early spring is almost here, many people begin to be overwhelmed by the gray skies and the cold weather at this time of year.

Still, there is light at the end of the tunnel: the sunniest days of gloomy February are the 23rd, 26th, 27th, and 28th.

Make your garden plans. Force pussy willows. Carefully separate dahlia clumps into single roots. Get farm and garden equipment cleaned up. Build trellises.

Bill Felker has been watching local weather and writing almanacks since 1984. Contact him at wfelker@woh.rr.com or visit his Web site at poorwillsalmanack.com.

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