Now that I live primarily in the semiarid climate of Colorado, I sometimes miss the balmy air of a Midwestern spring, especially the warm, humid air that flows northward ahead of a cold front. Last evening, as storms approached from the west, I sat on our deck in Columbia, Missouri, and enjoyed a dose of that fresh spring air.
Turkey vultures drifted overhead, just clearing the treetops, while squadrons of chimney swifts strafed the cloudy sky, feasting on invisible prey. Birdsong, primarily provided by cardinals and robins, was especially intense, perhaps an indication that they sensed a coming change. Carried on a south breeze, the balmy air, unlike the oppressive humidity of a Midwest summer, was scented by the varied blossoms of spring; enveloped in its soothing embrace, I was reluctant to leave the deck and remained outdoors until dusk faded to night.
Checking the radar when I came inside, I saw a swath of rain with imbedded thunderstorms from Minnesota to Oklahoma, the leading edge of an atmospheric trough that dipped across the Great Plains. The storms reached central Missouri by 2 AM and our high temperature today will be twenty degrees (F) cooler than yesterday. That balmy air is gone for now but it will return many times before summer's stagnant heat grips the Heartland.
