He’s baaaaack!

I’m referring to the TV weatherman who constantly tells us, or reminds us, that the Berks County area is in a drought.

He’s a shapeshifter, too. The other morning, he took the form of a young woman.

The recent rainfall will help, she said, but the Drought Monitor map as of Thursday placed Berks, southern Schuylkill, Lehigh and Northampton counties within one of two “severe drought” zones in Pennsylvania. The other covers Adams County and parts of two other counties that border Maryland.

The description doesn’t seem to fit, at least in early March when you need to have a towel handy to wipe mud from your dog’s feet after a bathroom break.

We should see cracked mud on the exposed bed of Blue Marsh Lake around Bernville, as we did during past severe droughts.

Also, what about all of the snow we’ve had this winter? I’m still chipping away at the snowbank along my curb from two storms ago. I’m betting it will last until May.

A little perspective is required here.

The “severe drought” classification is in the middle of the drought-severity classification continuum. The scale ranges in urgency from “abnormally dry” to “Pack up the RV and head to Minnesota ASAP” (“exceptional,” officially).

Since Jan. 1, Berks has logged a total of 4.26 inches of precipitation, according to National Weather Service data based on totals measured at Reading Regional Airport. That’s about an inch more than last year’s accumulation for the same period, but about 1.5 inches below normal for the first two months of the year.

Until a real soaker comes our way to turn the deficit into a surplus, you can expect to hear the word “drought” mentioned with nearly every wet — or even dry — forecast.

Remember, we can use the rain.

Adjust your clocks

Mark my words — someone will pull into an empty church parking lot on Sunday and wonder where all the people have gone.

Don’t be one of those people. Before you go to bed tonight, turn your clock ahead by one hour. Sunday begins daylight saving time.

I’m not a fan of the clock manipulation. I’ve heard arguments for both sides, but those who support it seem as if they’ve traveled back about 150 years to a time when the majority of Americans lived on farms and children walked on gravel roads to one-room schoolhouses.

Why does it matter that it’s dark when you get up for school or work? Have you looked at a school calendar lately? Kids are coming home most winter weeknights from games, band practices, theatrical activities and other events.

Also, what if I decide to go to bed at 9 so I can get seven or eight hours of sleep, like they say I’m supposed to? I’m darn sure I couldn’t fall asleep on a late-June evening when the sun is still shining brightly.