(NEXSTAR) – You may have heard the saying “If March comes in like a lion, it will go out like a lamb.” But where does it come from?
According to the Farmers’ Almanac, the weather folklore stems from ancestral beliefs in balance, meaning if the weather at the start of March was bad (roaring, like a roaring lion), the month should end with good weather (gentle, like a lamb).
The Paris Review outlines a few origin theories for the March folklore, including an astronomical connection. In March, the Leo zodiac is the rising sign and when we reach April, it is a ram.
Another theory gives the saying a biblical origin.
“Jesus’s first appearance was as the sacrificial lamb, but he will return as the Lion of Judah, hence those symbolic animals,” The Guardian writes. This may also stem from the Easter holiday, which lands sometime between late March and into April.
The Farmers’ Almanac highlights other March-related weather folklore, like “As it rains in March, so it rains in June” and “So many mists in March you see, so many frosts in May will be.”
The “in like a lion, out like a lamb” saying may hold sometimes, the Farmers’ Almanac explains, because March is typically when we see the transition between winter and spring. This year’s spring equinox – the first day of spring for the Northern Hemisphere – falls on March 20.
Not sure if March will come in like a lion or a lamb where you live? Check with your local weather team for the latest.