It may not feel like it today, but spring is right around the corner.

Unfortunately, for Alabama that can mean severe weather as much as spring flowers.

Meteorological spring begins March 1. Another marker of the season is the spring equinox, which signals the beginning of astronomical spring. That arrives at 10:06 p.m. CDT on March 19.

Spring can mean many things, like warmer temperatures, blooming flowers and trees — and in Alabama, tornadoes.

There will be many forecasts for spring weather issued over the next few weeks, and one of the first ones is from the Farmer’s Almanac.

The Almanac is forecasting what it calls a “polar coaster spring” for the U.S. as a whole.

The Almanac divides its forecasts up into regions. Alabama falls into what it calls “Zone 3,” which also includes Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Mississippi and Florida.

That’s a wide region, but the Almanac’s forecast is only two words: Showers, thunderstorms.

So it’s fairly safe to say the Almanac is not running the risk of a forecast bust, being that the months of March and April typically make up Alabama’s most active period for severe weather.

Here’s a look at tornadoes by month in Alabama, indicating that March and April have the highest number of confirmed twisters over the years:

Do any other forecasts offer more clarity? Yes and no.

NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center issues long-range outlooks for temperature and precipitation.

The temperature outlook for spring, shown at the top of this post, doesn’t lean one way or the other for Alabama. It is forecasting equal chances of above- or below-average temperatures for almost all of Alabama from March to the end of May.

The exception is the northeast corner of the state, which has a slightly higher probability of seeing above-average temperatures.

The spring precipitation outlook is suggesting Alabama has a 40-50 percent probability of above-average precipitation from March until the end of May — as does most of the Southeast U.S.:

A shorter-range outlook from the CPC, for the month of March, suggests that parts of south and central Alabama will have a higher probability of below-average temperatures next month, with increasing probabilities as you travel south:

What about precipitation — which in March could come as rain, or occasionally, snow?

After all, Alabama, and much of the country famously had a blizzard in March 1993.

The CPC’s precipitation outlook for March suggests increased probabilities for above-average precipitation for parts of central and south Alabama, with equal chances of above- or below-average precipitation for north Alabama: