March Weather: “In Like A Lion, Out Like a Lamb”?

Is this saying about March true? We take a closer look at this bit of weather folklore.

You may be familiar with this bit of weather folklore about March:

If March comes in like a lion, it will go out like a lamb.

Is there any truth to this saying? Weather folklore sayings are as colorful as our imagination. While many sayings are based on careful observations and turn out to be accurate, others are merely rhymes or beliefs of the people who came before us. So is this one any different?

Ancestral Beliefs—Balance

Those people often believed that bad spirits could affect the weather adversely, so they were cautious as to what they did or did not do in certain situations.

Those beliefs often included ideas that there should be a balance in weather and life. So, if a month came in bad (roaring like a lion), it should go out good and calm (docile, like a lamb).

With March being such a changeable month, in which we can see warm spring-like temperatures or late-season snowstorms, you can understand how this saying might hold true in some instances.

We can only hope that if March starts off stormy it will end on a calm note, but the key word is hope. However, this saying seems to be simply a rhyme rather than a true weather predictor.

Small cute lamb gambolling in a meadow in England farm
Will weather get docile like a lamb? There is a that there should be a balance in weather and in life.

More March Weather Lore

  • Some other March-related weather lore includes:
  • A dry March and a wet May; Fill barns and bays with corn and hay.
  • As it rains in March, so it rains in June.
  • March winds and April showers, Bring forth May flowers.
  • So many mists in March you see, so many frosts in May will be.
  • Is’t on St. Joseph’s day (19th) clear,
    So follows a fertile year;
    Is’t on St. Mary’s (25th) bright and clear,
    Fertile is said to be the year.

What will March be like where you live?  Check the forecast for your zone here.

Farmers' Almanac 2018 - Landfowl

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dsb

Here we are, one year after my last post. March came in like a lamb again. Punxsutawney Phil (our weather predicting ground hog) predicted an early spring for this year. For all of February and the now early March he has been right. Sorry, FA, but you missed this one.

Deborah Arnold

March 1st 2024…… The weather in N. Cal. is A LION. It’s raining hard here in the afternoon. We have more rain coming Sat./Sun. Break on Mon. Then 3 more days of rain. I think that we will have rain for awhile, but on and off. And I think March will go out like a LAMB…… because it will be Easter.

cin

March 1 2024 Snowing in extreme Northwest Montana. 28 deg.Temps. to drop to 20 tomorrow.

Chris Apel

Here in Ohio, March came in like a lamb. But snowstorms can occur in March and even in April.
February had 2 awful snowstorms, with over 12 inches of snow.

dsb

Here in Western Pennsylvania March came in like a Lamb. I hope it does not go out like a Lion. I do remember the White Hurricane of March 13, 1993. Had a 4 foot deep drift in my drive way.

Kristin

Came in like a lion in Arkansas. Sure hope it goes out like a lamb.

rose

We are warm and warm and fuzzy like a lamb in Florida-Thank you, God!

thom

more often than not, I have seen more March’s come in like a lion and leave like a lamb and vice-versa

MelvinI Reeves

Came in like a lamb in Springville Indiana

Karen Jones

Hey- I’m from Springville In

casey

I have not heard that sang. I thank it will be true this year. The reason I thank that is because in Spring you get stormes

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