It's March, which means if you're still in Ann Arbor you successfully survived February. Congratulations.

It's also the time of year to look for any possible sign that spring is on its way. Here's as exhaustive a search as I can manage to help you believe that we're almost there; some of these you have to rely on a bit of faith for.

Sunrise for March 2 is 7:09 a.m., and sunset is 6:26 p.m. The days are getting longer by about 2 minutes and 50 seconds per day. The day has a full 2.5 hours more of daylight than it did on the darkest days of December. Time and Date.com has a complete set of sunset and sunrise tables. They argue convincingly for taking a late lunch, since solar noon - the time the sun is highest in the sky - is at 12:46 p.m.

The very earliest spring flowers are starting to think about coming out. One snowdrop (Galanthus) was spotted on Ann Arbor's west side at Third and Washington on Monday, and if there's one, there's bound to be more. Other early flowers to look for include aconites (Aconitum) and crocuses.

More sure signs of spring are the reappearance of seasonal businesses. The Dexter A & W is open, offering frosty mugs of root beer. In local Dairy Queen news, the West Stadium location is open, but there's no sign of the Packard location opening back up yet.

Maple sap is running - read our accounts of maple sugaring events by Tammy Mayrend and Linda Diane Feldt.

The roads have potholes, and the potholes get bigger by the day. The City of Ann Arbor has a pothole patching program, and you can either submit an online request or call 734-99-HOLES to report a pothole for repair. Pothole season is a perennial sign of spring; the Feb. 21, 2008 and Mar. 16, 2009 Ann Arbor News stories on the topic give some perspective.

Did I miss something? Let me know how you know that spring is on its way.

Edward Vielmetti basks in the warm March sunshine for AnnArbor.com .