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When you think of March Madness, the NCAA women’s and men’s basketball tournaments come to mind. But, the true madness lies in the weather.

March is supposed to come in like a lion and go out like a lamb. But, not so fast in 2013. The extent of the current weather in the central US and Mid-Atlantic states is a potent reminder that spring can bring some of the worst weather of the season.

New England was hit by more than a foot of snow in some areas this month, with additional snow after the fact. Washington D.C. (downtown) got their first inch of snow in two years. Parts of Kansas got more snow in this storm than they average most winters.

The next couple of days will provide the true test of what sort of animal the end of March is to be.

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The following is a guest post from the creators of HistoricNaturalDisasters.com, a fascinating new web project that compares historic photos of natural disasters with Google Earth images of those same areas today. But don’t take our word. Check out what they have to say:

This week marks the 100-year anniversary of one of the worst – and least talked-about – natural disasters in US history. A series of mighty storms tore through the Midwest during this week in 1913, causing millions of dollars in damage and killing hundreds. The storms worked their way East from Nebraska to New York, and South from Iowa to Louisiana, delivering tornadoes, floods, rain, ice, and snow and enough destruction to bring a huge swath of the nation to a grinding halt.

First came the more than 20 separate tornadoes that were reported between March 21st and 23rd, 1913. Tearing through Mississippi, Georgia, Alabama, Nebraska, Iowa, Louisiana, Missouri, and Indiana, these storms caused millions of dollars in damage and destroyed thousands of homes and properties.

The worst damage was dealt to the city of Omaha, Nebraska on March 23 1913. A category F4 tornado cut right through the middle of town on Easter Sunday, throwing trees through houses and flinging cars, gravestones, and everything else in its path as far as several miles away. Once the storm had passed through the city, fires started to burn what little was left. In all, 115 people were killed and the city sustained over $8 million in damage ($187 million in today’s dollars).

Terra Haute, Indiana and Lower Peach Tree, Alabama were also hit hard by F4 tornadoes, with 21 and 27 dead respectively. After the two days of storms damages of over $10 million ($235 million in 2013 dollars) were reported, but these figures don’t take into account the losses of the many people who didn’t have insurance.

After the tornadoes had torn through the land, the rains came, filling the rivers and streams of the Midwestern US to the breaking point. Levees, dams, and bridges began to fail across Ohio and parts of Pennsylvania and Indiana under the pressure from the rivers swollen by the rain, and by March 25th some cities and towns found themselves essentially swallowed whole by the flood waters.

In Ohio, cities like Piqua, Tory and Hamilton saw death and destruction from flooding, but Dayton, Ohio was hit the hardest, with over 14 square miles of the city underwater by the time the flood’s advance slowed on March 26th. Some areas of the city disappeared beneath up to 20 feet of water as the rushing waters tore houses and businesses from their foundations and took out miles of railroads. The floods in Dayton proved to be even more damaging than the tornado in Omaha, especially when fires fed by ruptured gas lines and fanned by high winds swept through the city in the floods wake. All told, disaster was responsible for killing 360 people in Dayton and inflicting over $100 million in damage ($2 billion in today’s dollars). The cleanup effort after the flood and fires would take over a year, and Dayton’s economy wouldn’t fully recover from the events for over a decade.

Check out some of the then and now photos at the end of this post. We really hope you enjoyed this snippet of history!

We’d also like to thank some of the great archives and archivists who have done so much to work to help preserve the amazing history of the 1913 flood, including the Dayton Metro Library and historian Trudy Bell. The amount of history compiled at these two websites is truly amazing. Lastly, thanks to Jason from InsuranceTown.com, who lent us some of the resources we used to help prepare content for the web and publish our blog, and inspired our Mapping History Contest.

Don’t forget to check out HistoricNaturalDisasters.com for more images, and for information on our Mapping History Contest – help us figure out the locations pictured in historic photos from 1913 and you could win $100!

24th & Lake, Omaha, in 1913

24th & Lake, Omaha, today

Fourth & Main streets, Dayton, in 1913

Fourth & Maine streets, Dayton, today

Jenkins Drug Store, Dayton, in 1913

Jenkins Drug Store, Dayton, today

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Easter and Passover are almost here. While there are many celebrations, customs and religious observations that occur this week, there are also many traditional foods that are served and consumed. Ever wonder why we eat certain foods during these holidays?

Some of the traditional foods served during Passover include:

Matzoh. Three unleavened pieces of matzohs are placed in folded napkins as a reminder of how quickly the Israelites had to flee Egypt, leaving no time for the dough to rise.

Horseradish is served to symbolize the bitterness of slavery.

A mixture of apples, nuts, wine and cinnamon – referred to as Charoses – is another food eaten during Passover and is suppose to remind people of the mortar used by the Jewish slaves when they constructed buildings.

Roasted lamb shank bone, referred to as Zeroah, represents the paschal offering.

A bowl of vegetables, usually celery, called Karpas, is another traditional food that represents hope and redemption.

Christians celebrate Easter with some traditional foods but seem to have more regional and family favorites rather than religiously dictated foods.

Ham is often served at the Eater table, which may seem odd since Jesus was Jewish and wouldn’t have eaten pork. It seems that this holiday food comes more from the timing of Easter rather than a religious meaning. Years ago, hams served during the Easter holiday were from meat that was originally slaughtered in the fall and cured throughout winter months. Since the holiday of Easter falls in spring, this celebration was cause to use the last of the winter-cured meats.

Eggs are a big part of the Easter tradition. Eggs are traditionally connected with rebirth, rejuvenation, and immortality. Since Easter is celebrated as the resurrection of Jesus, and it observed in the spring (a time when flowers, grass and other vegetation is born again), there’s an obvious connection with this food that reminds people of rebirth. Another reason may be that eggs during early Christian days were forbidden during Lent. So after the 40 days of not eating them, Easter was a welcomed day to eat eggs once again.

Hot Cross Buns – bread is a big part of many religious traditions and ceremonies, but the origin of hot cross buns predates Christianity in Europe. Supposedly the buns were made to celebrate the spring equinox in pagan societies, and have since been served during the Easter season.

What other traditional foods do you eat/serve on either Passover or Easter? My grandmother made Easter Bread with colored eggs baked into them, rather than hot cross buns.

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If you are in the weather business, you are quick to remind people not to “shoot the messenger” if they don’t like what is happening outside. I was aghast when I read in The Onion – that hallowed beacon of journalistic integrity* – that famous spring prognosticator Punxsutawney Phil is being beheaded because of his miss this year. Yikes! That strikes me as being a bit harsh. Send him to his room without supper or take away his iPhone, but a beheading?!

Legend has it that if Punxsutawney Phil sees his shadow on Feb. 2, winter will last six more weeks. If he doesn’t see his shadow, spring will come early. This year Phil called for an early spring. This has proven to be wrong, as the many people who shoveled as much as a foot of snow this morning can attest, and now he may pay the ultimate price …

Do you think a “beheading” is a fitting punishment for old Phil, or should we give him another chance. I would hate for this to become the norm for missing a weather call.

Speaking of spring, the more reliable Farmers’ Almanac is calling for a soggy season for most parts of the US, and some very wild weather. For those in the East, take the wet while you can, because we say it will be a very warm and drier-than-normal summer.

Regardless of what the weather is doing in your area, spring officially arrived at 7:02 a.m. today, right on schedule. Enjoy the season!

*(Before anyone spreads any rumors about my intelligence, yes, I do realize The Onion is a satire publication).

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Spring is almost here (well at least based on the calendar). And with this new season is a promise of warmer days, greener grass, and busy schedules. Spring is a hectic Almanac time as we are putting the finishing touches on the next edition (2014). We have to finalize all  types of details to get the 2014 Farmers’ Almanac to press by early June.  Personally it’s also busy season for me as it’s a time when my kids’ sports schedules pick up. Plus there’s Mother’s Day, lots of birthdays in my family, and my daughter’s confirmation. Yes, spring is filling up quickly.

So the challenge this spring –what am I going to do differently? How will I attack the every day and seasonal routines (don’t forget getting the outside ready for a nice summer) in a way that won’t have me dreading a season that’s just about to begin?

Kind of reminds me of those New Year’s resolutions some of us set 3 months ago –how are you doing with those? I wrote down 5 things I’d like to accomplish this year, and so far I have worked on a few, but have yet to really accomplish them.

Perhaps for this spring I will write down a few things that have to get done and some that I want to get done and see how I do. But I will also keep in mind that even if I don’t get everything off the list that it’s Ok too, as life is meant to be lived not just routinely scheduled.

What about you? Any special plans for the spring? Is it a busy time for you or not so much?

Whatever spring means to you, I hope the warmer days and greener grass give you a little extra spring in your step and help you achieve whatever your goals are for this new season.

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One of the most popular sections of the Farmers’ Almanac is the planting calendar. We aren’t exclusive to farmers, but we do help countless thousands of people plan their gardens and do it on the right day.

Last October, I received a delightful letter from a grandmother, almanac fan, and gardener in Louisiana. She was helping her 11-year-old grandson learn to grow his own food. They had two options for planting mustard greens. He first tried planting on a day that said seeds with tend to rot. You guessed it, they quickly rotted. So, then he planted mustard greens on the day we identified as being excellent for above ground crops. Long story short – they were able to give away a bunch of mustard greens to family and friends.

As we start thinking about growing our own food this spring and summer, be sure to consult our Gardening by the Moon Calendar in the 2013 Farmers’ Almanac and on our website for that extra advantage. Then, let me know how you fared.

And if you decide to grow mustard greens this year, here’s a recipe you can try:

Sautéed Mustard Greens
Ingredients:
3 large garlic cloves, minced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup olive oil
1 1/2 lb mustard greens
1/2 cup water

Directions:
Remove and discard the stems and center ribs from the mustard green leaves. Mash garlic into a paste with a teaspoon of salt. Heat oil in a 5-quart pot over moderately high heat until hot and sauté the garlic paste until fragrant. Add half of greens. Toss until until the greens begin to wilt, then add the remaining half. Add water and cook, covered, for five minutes, stirring occasionally. Continue to cook, uncovered, until greens are tender. Add salt to taste.

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Sometimes life has a way of reminding us of what’s really important. Unfortunately, this often happens after something bad like a tragedy or an illness occurs. But sometimes it’s the little things, like spending a few hours with my 97 year-old-grandmother, that reminds me that it’s the small things that count so much.

My grandmother is a healthy, vibrant, and often feisty person. She has many stories of days gone by and opinions on how life has changed. But as any other person getting up there in age, she has days that she gets lonely. She is very fortunate that she lives in her own house and can get around pretty well, but is also very dependent on my parents who live close to her and do many things for and with her. This weekend after talking to her on the phone, I decided that I should drop by and visit her in person.

I spent two hours with her, listening to stories of days gone by – some of which I had heard before and others I hadn’t. She has lived quite a colorful and hard past. When she was a child, her parents didn’t have much money, so she and her friends often walked the railroad tracks to collect pieces of coal that had fallen off the trains so they could heat their homes. They also would also tease and make faces at some of the train workers, so that they would get mad at her and her friends and throw watermelons at them (which they would then collect and eat what they could).

As a young woman she worked at many different factories including an ice cream factory, a mink factory, and at Crucible steel during WW11 in Newark, NJ. She knows the value of a dollar and still to this day, buys most of her things at a thrift shop or garage sale. She’s one-of-a-kind and everyone who knows her would agree.

She does keep her mind engaged– doing word finds, reading the paper every day, and cuts coupons for a group that sends coupons to military families that are serving overseas (and often only getting one salary). She also loves to spend time with her family, especially her great grandchildren (which I believe the count is now at 24).

Those two hours on Saturday reminded me that I am fortunate to have a grandmother still alive and in such good health, and that sometimes finding time out of my busy schedule to visit her and other family members is a vital and rewarding thing to do. She’s also a living example of why and how you have to keep your mind engaged as you age in order to age well.

Here’s to more good reminders of what makes life important and good.

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Don’t forget to turn your clocks forward – or “Spring Ahead” – this weekend! Daylight Saving Time starts at 2 a.m. on Sunday, March 10, 2013.

If that feels a little early to you, it’s because we used to move from Standard Time to Daylight Saving Time in early April, not early March. Since 2007, when the Energy Act of 2005 took effect, we have changed the clocks in November and March rather than October and April, as most of us were once accustomed to doing. That means more than two thirds of each year (245 days) is now in DST.

In the 2007 Farmers’ Almanac, we shared our own thoughts on the change.

Did you know that Ben Franklin himself is credited with the idea of changing the clocks? Read Franklin’s original letter in which he explained why we should make the sun rise later.

What do you think about Daylight Saving Time? Do you like the new dates, the old dates, or would you prefer no clock changing at all?

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Starting tonight, comet PANSTARRS, which was first discovered in images taken by the Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System in 2001, should finally begin to become visible in the Northern Hemisphere, weather permitting. The comet will appear very low near the west-southwest horizon about a half hour after sunset.

By this coming Tuesday, March 12, the comet will sit almost directly above the western horizon, less than 5 degrees to the left of a very narrow crescent moon. The comet will slowly move higher in the sky, shifting slowly toward the west-northwest part of the sky during the middle and later part of this month, and become gradually dimmer as it pulls away from both the Sun and the Earth.

The tail of the comet, if visible, should appear to be pointed upward and tipped slightly toward the left through mid-March, before tipping more toward the right or the remainder of the month.

Here’s a more detailed story about the comet from the 2013 Farmers’ Almanac.

If you manage to snap a good picture of comet PANSTARRS, be sure to share it with us on Facebook or Twitter.