As I’m writing this on Monday, February 27th, it is not yet confirmed as to how ‘the powers that be’ will deem the outcome and ending of spring here on the prairies.
My lightning fast mind has clued into believing that “March will come in like a ‘lamb’ and therefore go out like a ‘lion,’ as the weather seems to infer.
Presently, the temperature is hovering around freezing and a little below at the almost onset of March; that is definitely a good sign right now but if there is any truth to the proverb, we may still be in for more winter as the month goes on. Apparently, March is a very unpredictable month when it comes to the weather.
Weather proverbs or idioms have been passed down for generations as sayings, rhymes, limericks, etc., that help to forecast the weather for the coming days or season.
Whether it was a sailor on a ship that beckons, ‘Red sky at night, sailor’s delight,’ or a farmer outstanding in his field that can tentatively forecast the harvest he will have by numerous conditions at the onset saying ‘A dry March and a wet May; Fill barns and bays with corn and hay’ , these kinds of proverbs have a lot of truth to them.
In an article, ‘Here is why March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb (usually)’ by Tom Sater, it says, “This well-known proverb means that March is a month in which you can experience a Lion’s fierce roar of frigid cold, the long white teeth of biting winds that can cut through flesh; and the gentle softness, the warmth of fluffy white fleece, and the innocent kiss of sunshine like a docile newborn lamb.”
The proverb can supposedly be traced back to Thomas Fuller’s 1732 compendium, “Gnomologia; Adagies and Proverbs; Wise Sentences and Witty Sayings, Ancient and Modern, Foreign and British.” Fuller compiled numerous proverbs and studied weather lore across many countries through the late 1600s and early 1700s.
As the article goes on to say, this proverb may have evolved into the weather forecast we use today by first relating to the heavenly stars above. It is believed that this saying has more to do with the month beginning with the constellation Leo. Leo (the lion) rises in the east to start March and ends the month with the constellation Aries (the ram, or lamb) setting in the west.”
The reverse version of the proverb seems to be what we are experiencing lately (March coming in like a lamb…), but as the Irish celebrate St. Patrick’s Day in March, we muse, ‘Will the luck of the Irish be with us for the rest of the month?” We’ll have to wait and see what tomorrow brings.
https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/02/weather/weather-proverb-march-lion-lamb/index.html
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the position of this publication.
