MacGougan at Large

Notes on Secondary Seasons - 1

January Thaw

We traditionally divide each year into four seasons. This is an approach that works better in some places than others.

Here in New England, four seasons aren’t enough. We like to subdivide our years into more bite-sized chunks. Over the course of this series, I’ll explore various secondary seasons in chronological order. Today’s topic is the January Thaw.

This refers to the perception that there’s typically a week or two in mid to late January when the weather is unseasonably warm. Is that really true? It seemed to be true in New England this year, but the scientific evidence isn’t clear.

Historically, it seems to be true in about 50% of the years. That’s a high enough percentage that some climate scientists refer to the January Thaw as a singularity - meaning “a reoccurring anomalous departure of temperature from its normal seasonal value, on or near a particular date.”

Let me just pause here to relish the ambiguity. Is it anomalous or expected? A singularity or a regular occurrence?

Still, 50% isn’t dramatically higher than the odds that any two-week period will be unusually warm. There are naysayers who file January Thaw in the drawer with the Bermuda Triangle, the Loch Ness Monster, and UFO sightings.

Even for the January Thaw true believers, the concept is losing importance year by year. As the global thermostat is slowly but inexorably ratcheted up, on average we’re left each January with a little less freeze to thaw.

I usually roll out an original song lyric only on the last posting of each series. I’m planning, though, to include lyrics with each of the postings in this series. It seemed like a good challenge - and I wasn’t sure I had enough prose thoughts to justify the postings otherwise.

(Eat your heart out, Dave Barry! YOU try writing eight consecutive columns with original song lyrics and see if it doesn’t make you rethink your reluctance to gift me your Pulitzer Prize.)

I thought today’s topic might be commandeered to serve as a metaphor for a period of detente in a strained relationship.

“JANUARY THAW”

We need a truce because this winter’s such a bummer
Don’t have the juice to ask for springtime or for summer
We need a respite to restore some edges raw

All I’m asking for’s a January Thaw.
All I’m asking for
And all I’m looking for
Is just
A January Thaw.

Our life’s so stiff - don’t know how we got so frozen
We’re on a cliff, and our options here are closin’
Would it break some scientific law
If we could get a January Thaw?

All I’m asking for
And all I’m looking for
Is just
A January Thaw.