3-30-2026 12:04am

Encore Article with Update: Revisiting the Onion Snow. Is It a Lost Tradition?

Lesley Misko Editor

Photo: "Gardening Know How"

[Editor's note-- This article was originally published in The Expression March 19, 2025. We asked Accu-Dave Fisherowski for his 2026 prediction. You can read it in the article update.]

by Lesley Misko

You used to hear it often around these parts this time of year.

“Don’t forget to plant your onions before the onion snow.”

“This is the onion snow.”

“I got my onions in just in time for the onion snow.”

You still hear it in the more rural parts of the school district, but not so much in town these days, as gardens have become more the exception than the norm and lots of folks have moved to the area from more urban places.

I first heard the phrase “onion snow” back in the seventies when I married and moved to Bally and learned vegetables don’t simply show up in plastic bags. We had a large garden, and it came equipped with scallion-like onions that resurfaced annually. Our neighbors always searched the weather horizon for the upcoming onion snow. To my New York City-bred ears, the expression sounded folksy and poetic, and eager for my first gardens to be successful, I wasn’t inclined to ignore local wisdom.

I learned that in general, the term “onion snow” refers to a late season snow around two inches or less, that falls as winter is transitioning into spring. It often occurs around St. Patrick’s Day and is usually the last snowfall of the year.

Explaining in more detail, The Farmer’s Almanac says, “’Onion snow’ is a term originated by the Pennsylvania Dutch culture and language, and it refers to a snowfall that occurs after the spring onions have been planted and comes right as they are sprouting. Others say that this late spring snow is an indicator for when it’s a good time to start planting onions. Either way, the snowfall is defined as light and melts quickly, and is usually the final snowfall before the end of the winter season.”

Unusually warm weather in 2025 brought far more rain than snow to the Boyertown area, causing me to wonder if the onion snow has become only a memory of the past, a victim of global warming. So in March 2025 I checked in with retired Boyertown Area School District Earth Science teacher David Fisherowski. He is an experienced and capable amateur meteorologist with a loyal following of local folks who have more faith in his forecasts than those that air on the 6 o’clock news.

Fisherowski said he saw some potential for a March 2025 storm. For the outcome and 2026 prediction, read below.

Update for 2026...

Much to the chagrin of snow lovers and gardeners, contrary to long-standing weather tradition, there was no onion snow in March 2025.

According to Fisherowski, this year is looking like another bust. "Recent models did show a 1-2 foot snowfall here, but have since backed off and moved it way north. Any snow right now I would suspect to be a true onion of 1-3 inches, centered sometime between the 16th-18th," he summarizes.

Sigh. It seems like this tradition is truly becoming a thing of the past.... Lesley

But, there's still time. I recall one morning in 2005 when school was cancelled for a "Snow Day" on April 2! I figured it was the Universe's birthday gift that year that I retired. ~Jane