This spring has produced some of the wettest weather on record in the Northeast. This March was notable for its lack of snow. Four of the normally snowiest cities in the region: Buffalo, Rochester, and Syracuse, NY and Concord, NH, did not see any measurable snow during March. While areas like Boston, MA, Providence, RI and Portland, ME saw their wettest month ever. At the Blue Hills Observatory outside of Boston 18.81 inches of rain were recorded during March. The previous record was 18.78 in August 1955.
The lack of snow and warm temperatures has us looking at growing conditions more indicative of early June than early April. According to the Northeast Regional Climate Center our maximum temperature has averaged 61.8⁰ almost 8⁰ higher than at this time last year.
So while conditions have been good for early green up of our lawns, they are not necessarily the best for maintaining them. Vehicles (riding mowers, tractors and trucks) driven on soft wet soils can cause severe underlying compaction that is not easily fixed. Caution should be used at this time of the season. It will be better to let the grass grow long than to get on it while it is too wet.