JANESVILLE
If you could bless southern Wisconsin with the best kind of snowmelt, you could pick the weather we’ve been having in the past two weeks.
It’s often been warmer than average, but not exceedingly so. And below-freezing temperatures have often returned at night.
The result has been like the porridge Goldilocks preferred: just right.
It has been just right if you don’t want to see flooding, which could occur with a fast snowmelt, said National Weather Service meteorologist Andy Boxell.
And it’s been just right if you don’t want to see heavy rain on top of massive snow and ice buildup, which this area suffered in February 2018.
“This is about as perfect as it gets,” Boxell said.
Sudden, heavy rain could still cause floods. The ground is still frozen under the surface muck in many areas, and plants are not yet soaking up the water, Boxell said.
But the rains expected Wednesday and Thursday aren’t expected to be heavy—maybe a half-inch or so.
In the meantime, the predicted high temperatures Tuesday and Wednesday are over 60 degrees, something not experienced here since Nov. 19, according to records kept at the Janesville Wastewater Treatment Plant.
While 60 degrees will feel warm, it will not be unusual for this time of year, Boxell said.
“We usually see at least a few days in March where we’re well into the 50s if not the low 60s,” he said.
The average high temperature for this week is around 40 degrees, but March often delivers much higher or lower temperatures.
“It’s an anything-goes type of month,” Boxell said.
In scattered pockets around the city, those first-bloomers are starting to rear their colorful heads, including snowdrops and winter aconite at Rotary Botanical Gardens.
“We’re pretty much on schedule. They’re the earliest bulbs that we have,” said gardens horticulturalist Michael Jesiolowski.
Jesiolowski cautions gardeners not to get excited about this week’s warmth.
Working in gardens now will result in soil compaction because it is so wet. Best to wait until it dries out some, he said.
One thing gardeners can do in the next two to three weeks is to prune trees and shrubs. Creatures that could use the fresh cuts to damage woody plants are not yet out.
So enjoy the warmth because it won’t last, Boxell said. Cooler air is expected into the weekend, although “not crazy cold.”
The chance of single-digit temperatures is low this time of year, but it could happen with a late snow followed by a cold, clear night, Boxell said.
Speaking of snow, it’s hard to say when the danger of a snowfall might end. The average date when snow of 1 inch or more covers the ground is around mid-March, Boxell said, but in rare years, that date has been in early May.
