j The Changing Seasons: 
EDWARD S. BRINKLEY • 124 PEACH STREET, CAPE CHARLES, VIRGINIA 23310 • {THALASSOICA@GMAIL.COM) 
As sometimes occurs along their spring migration route when conditions are adverse for onward migration, Lapland Longspurs flocked to feeding stations and fields in southern Yukon in mid-May (here 13 
May) 2009 in Whitehorse, Yukon. Photograph by Cameron Eckert. 
The Weather (and Climate) 
In the Lower 48 states, the meteorological 
spring (March through May) 2009 had an av- 
erage temperature of 52.7° F, about 0.9° F 
above normal, and slightly (1.6 cm) above- 
normal precipitation. Of course, some areas 
had abundant rainfall, particularly the South- 
east — Georgia had its second wettest spring 
in 115 years, and both Florida and Arkansas 
had their rainiest Mays on record. In much of 
the Midwest, planting was delayed because of 
a wet April and May, and Peoria broke the 
record for days above flood stage on the Illi- 
nois River. Just to the west, in the northern 
Great Plains, melt waters and spring precipi- 
tation caused disastrous flooding after a rainy 
autumn and very snowy winter conditions 
that continued well into March. Across a large 
area in North Dakota and western Minnesota, 
the Red River set records for consecutive days 
above flood stage; in southern Manitoba, the 
flooding was the worst on record since 1826. 
From the Rockies westward, precipitation lev- 
els were closer to normal. 
In the United States' East, spring 2009 
came in like a lion, with a blustery, cold 
northeaster 1-3 March that dumped 15-30 cm 
of snow in a swath from Appalachian Georgia 
to eastern Maine. Temperatures in Richmond, 
"Virginia bottomed out 10° F on both 3 and 4 
March, breaking the all-time March minimum 
set in 1943; Tallahassee, Florida hit 26° F on 
4 March. Despite this precipitation, the Janu- 
ary-through-March period was the driest on 
record in Delaware, Maryland, and New Jer- 
sey and nearly so in adjacent Pennsylvania 
and West Virginia (based on 115 years of 
data); March in the Northeast was also rela- 
tively dry. Over the rest of the season, howev- 
er, temperatures were generally normal (mid- 
Atlantic states southward) to above normal 
(New England). In late April, a warm spell set 
all-time high records in many locations; Port- 
land, Maine topped 90° F for the first time 
ever in April! While the Northeast, especially 
interior areas, saw precipitation values slight- 
ly below normal through early May, abundant 
rains over coastal areas and the Southeast 
generally — the product of low-pressure sys- 
tems tracking along a shifting jet stream — in 
April and May eased long-standing drought 
conditions in the Carolinas, Georgia, and ad- 
jacent areas. Weather systems of interest to 
birders are very thoroughly discussed in the 
New England, Southern Atlantic, and Florida 
regional reports (and briefly below), includ- 
ing a westward shift in early migrants such as 
geese in March, two notably early fallouts of 
Neotropical migrants in April (the subject of 
this issue’s lead article), and a stalled low- 
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NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS 
