One half of the way through March, Washington appeared to bask in a Saturday bursting with the signs and sights of spring, rich in the elements of meteorological satisfaction.
Dry and delightful, Saturday defied the dismal trend of downpour established on the first two Saturdays of the month. Instead, it provided a sparkling day of ever-increasing spring sunshine.
At times, only an occasional small cloud drifted in a sea of blue sky, seeming almost out of place, a bit of scenery left behind by the departure of some earlier atmospheric melodrama.
The high temperature reached 66 degrees. In that regard, it failed to follow the pattern set by the four preceding days, all of which achieved readings in the 70s.
But it seemed warm, and in fact the high was 10 degrees above the average high here for the 16th of March, a pivotal day on the calendar, falling between the ides on the 15th and St. Patrick’s Day on the 17th.
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This year, it was also a mere three days from the day of the equinox, which falls on March 19, and is widely accepted as the formal start of spring.
But to accept the evidence of the senses, it seemed that spring, like the ides, has already come to the capital. In wooded areas, the haze of green created by the sprouting of leaves, seems to grow brighter each day. At the Tidal Basin, the cherry blossoms seem to be trembling at the verge of full bloom.
And in the bright sunshine, out of the shadows and not required to exist under a blanket of clouds, a day such as Friday with a high of 66 provides the physical feel and creature comforts of a far warmer day.
With 15 days of March behind it, and 15 ahead of it, Saturday, the exact midpoint of the month, seemed a kind of ambassador of springtime. It appeared to be the sort of day that in weather terms might be described as disappointing in only one significant way. Like all the days that came before it, it will not come again.
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