First Day of Spring Comes In on Rain Clouds Across Midwest

Showers and thunderstorms from Texas to Arkansas ushered in the first day of spring today, while a snowy reminder of winter covered higher elevations of the West.

Spring arrived officially at 8:14 a.m.

Students at Lake Superior State College in Michigan welcomed spring by setting a fire that “melted” an effigy of a 7-foot snowman and reading poetry under fair skies and temperatures in the teens.

“Spring is most welcome in view of the 140 inches of snow this year,” said Prof. Peter Thomas, who read a poem he composed for the ritual.

Thunderstorms dumped more than 3 1/2 inches of rain in Palacios, Tex., in six hours this morning. Houston received 2 inches in two hours, and more than 1 1/2 inches fell in Oklahoma City.

Showers were scattered from central Missouri across the Ohio Valley to the mid-Atlantic Coast. Light snow fell over portions of upper Michigan and northern Maine.