Mud season is a period in late

winter Winter is the coldest season of the year in polar and temperate climates. It occurs after autumn and before spring. The tilt of Earth's axis causes seasons; winter occurs when a hemisphere is oriented away from the Sun. Different cultures ...

and early spring when dirt becomes muddy from melting snow and ice, making travel more difficult. The name is most commonly used in northern New England and the northern Great Lakes region.

Causes

Mud season occurs in places where the ground freezes in winter and thaws in spring. Dirt roads and paths become muddy because the deeply frozen ground thaws from the surface down as the air temperature warms above

freezing Freezing is a phase transition where a liquid turns into a solid when its temperature is lowered below its freezing point. In accordance with the internationally established definition, freezing means the solidification phase change of a liquid o ...

. The frozen lower layers of ground prevent water from percolating into the soil so the surface layers of soil become saturated with water. Clay-based soil, especially when combined with poor drainage, is especially prone to forming deep and sticky mud. In sandy soils, the top unfrozen layer becomes waterlogged during thaws, but does not form viscous mud.

Around the world

The term ''mud season'' is used in northern climates in North America, particularly in rural

northern New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...

and the northern areas of the

Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes in the mid-east region of North America that connect to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence River. There are five lakes ...

. It is often jokingly called the "fifth season". While significantly muddy conditions also occur throughout the Appalachians and in other mountainous regions, they are not as tightly tied to season. A similar concept, under the name of ''

rasputitsa ''Rasputitsa'' ( rus, распу́тица, p=rɐsˈputʲɪtsə) is a season of the year when travel on unpaved roads or across country becomes difficult, owing to muddy conditions from rain or melting snow. Etymology In Russia, the term , р� ...

'' in Russia or ''bezdorizhzhia'' in Ukraine, appears in Eastern European regions dominated by clay-based soils.

Consequences

Mud season can be expensive for towns due to the damage done to dirt roads. One report concluded that the cost of re-engineering dirt roads so that they would remain passable during mud season in the state of

Vermont Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...

could run as high as . Transportation problems during mud season have military implications, due to the bogging down of horses and military equipment in deep mud. Both Napoleon's

invasion An invasion is a military offensive in which large numbers of combatants of one geopolitical entity aggressively enter territory owned by another such entity, generally with the objective of either: conquering; liberating or re-establishing con ...

of the former Russian Empire, and the German

Battle of Moscow The Battle of Moscow was a military campaign that consisted of two periods of strategically significant fighting on a sector of the Eastern Front (World War II), Eastern Front during World War II. It took place between September 1941 and January ...

in the Soviet Union during World War II were unsuccessful in part because of the muddy environment during this season. The Mongols did manage to conquer Moscow during the 13th-century

Mongol invasion The Mongol invasions and conquests took place during the 13th and 14th centuries, creating history's largest contiguous empire: the Mongol Empire ( 1206- 1368), which by 1300 covered large parts of Eurasia. Historians regard the Mongol devastati ...

, but may have been deterred from

Novgorod Veliky Novgorod ( rus, links=no, Великий Новгород, t=Great Newtown, p=vʲɪˈlʲikʲɪj ˈnovɡərət), also known as just Novgorod (), is the largest city and administrative centre of Novgorod Oblast, Russia. It is one of the ol ...

due to the muddy bog produced by an early spring thaw. In the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Russian forces' movements have been largely restricted to roads and often bogged down when leaving them.

Cultural references

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and north ...

upstate New York Upstate New York is a geographic region consisting of the area of New York State that lies north and northwest of the New York City metropolitan area. Although the precise boundary is debated, Upstate New York excludes New York City and Long Is ...

, and

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

, the phrase "mud season" can be used as a shorthand reference to the vicissitudes and peculiarities of life in the region. The term has been used as the title of magazines, books, and at least one movie.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mud Season New England Vermont culture New Hampshire culture Maine culture