"Beware of the Ides of March" For Its Wild Weather

“Beware the Ides of March!” You’ve likely heard this saying before, but do you know where the term comes from or what it means? The Ides of March has a rich history of unfortunate events, both historical and weather-related.
 
Before Julius Caesar proposed and implemented the modern-day Julian calendar in 45 BC, the Romans had a very different calendar that was in sync with the phases of the moon. Although each month had ides, which fell on the full moon on the 15^th of each month, the ides of March was considered one of the holiest days of the year since it marked the first full moon of the year. March was the first month of the year on the Roman calendar and Romans saw it as a day for feasting and sacrifice to Jupiter, the supreme Roman god.
 
So how did the ides of March get its reputation? If you’ve read William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, you’ll know that Julius Caesar, the dictator of Rome and ironically the one who proposed the implementation of a new calendar, was assassinated by conspirators on March 15, 44 BC. Historians say that the conspirators chose this day to send the message that the death of the leader of the Roman Empire was a sacrifice for the well-being of the civilization. The saying “beware of the Ides of March” comes from Shakespeare’s telling of Caesar’s death.
 
Today, the ides of March has an ominous tone to it, and for good reason. Quite a few historical weather events around the globe have occurred on or near March 15, including tropical cyclone and winter storms. Here are just a few of the extreme weather events that have occurred on the ides of March:

• 1889: A tropical cyclone struck Apia, Samoa, which is located in the southern Pacific Ocean and is part of Polynesia. This cyclone hit Apia during the Samoan crisis, which was a standoff between the U.S., Germany and Great Britain for control over the Samoan Islands. The storm wrecked three American and three German warships and killed more than 200 sailors.
• 1949: A blizzard blasted through the Northern Plains on March 15, killing 60 people in North Dakota and Minnesota and six in Saskatchewan, Canada. Even though there was light snow, 60 mph winds caused visibility problems and wreaked havoc on people’s Saturday night plans.
• 1993: The “Storm of the Century” crippled the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic between March 12 and March 15, 1993. Ten to 30 inches of snow fell from eastern Alabama to Maine, with some places receiving nearly 3 feet of snow.  More than 300 people died.
• 2008: Severe weather swept through the Southeast, with 51 tornadoes reported across the Carolinas, Georgia and northern Alabama. There was one fatality and 19 injuries were reported.

Although extreme weather doesn’t occur every year on March 15, March is notorious for wild weather, including severe weather and late-season snowstorms, so you too, might want to “beware the Ides of March.”

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Image: The death of Julius Caesar (La morte di Cesare by Vincenzo Camuccini via Wikimedia Commons)