@narnian78, I was really saddened to hear of these tragedies in MI. In SW Ontario, we had warnings last night of terrifically strong tornadoes in Michigan, so as to be on the alert here, but the meteorologists said these severe storms should weaken as they enter our province. Ontario Storm Watch wrote this at 9 last evening:

Storms often weaken after sunset as the atmosphere becomes more stable, so we’ll be watching closely to see if any of the embedded stronger storms can hold together as they approach the [Canadian] border. Not to mention the cold lakes that act as our storm shield early in the season.

Good that you are getting abundant rain (with more on the way next week), @Pete, but sorry to hear of the flash flooding in some areas. 

We have an unusually warm day today for March in our area (one can almost feel a tad of humidity!) —>18C / 64.4F; spring-like cool tomorrow and the beginning of next week, with rain on Tuesday, which will usher in a more comfortable cold front from here on in for a good chunk of the rest of March, including snow at times.  

I also saw some coverage of the severe weather in Michigan.

We were too far west and north to be directly affected, but we had non-severe thunderstorms and rain last night, which switched over to snow during the night. We received less than an inch (about 20mm) of snow, which is already melting. Tomorrow is expected to be unseasonably warm - even hot for March - at 61F/16C.

Much of the US and Canada "springs ahead" to daylight saving time tonight, making for later sunsets that are convenient for outdoor activities - unless that includes stargazing. 😉

Well, looks like I'll need to be ready for rain here tomorrow, instead of the sunny day I wanted for the last laundry before I go away on holiday. Also might not get my lawn mowed, if it's too damp for the person who does it for me.

Posted by: @coracle

Well, looks like I'll need to be ready for rain here tomorrow, instead of the sunny day I wanted for the last laundry before I go away on holiday. Also might not get my lawn mowed, if it's too damp for the person who does it for me.

It has been raining on & off for much of last week, as a slow-moving tropical low tracks south from Queensland. We did get part of our lawn mowed, a week or so ago, but now even the mowed bit is looking scruffy. There was a slight chill in the morning, refreshing after a week or so of mainly stuffy humid weather, & the rain isn't over yet, either. I expect the weather will cross the ditch, so I agree that the rain isn't over yet in New Zealand, either. 

@pete Where I live however, it was a significant rainfall and there were minor flood warnings but no major issues.  Apparently more rain is due mid-late next week!

I believe so, as we've had quite a few showers & storms, as recently as yesterday afternoon & today as well.

@jo  We have an unusually warm day today for March in our area (one can almost feel a tad of humidity!) —>18C / 64.4F; not so warm tomorrow; warm-ish again the beginning of next week, with rain on Tuesday, which will usher in a more comfortable cold front from here on in for a good chunk of the rest of March, including snow at times.

Surely Spring would be starting soon, when it won't be long before it will be the Equinox on 21st March? The heat is already milder here, warning that autumn is on its way. 

@waggawerewolf27

Spring officially begins here on March 20 (EDT) at 10:46 am (also our daughter's birthday ), but March— and many days in April—can feel quite cool, sometimes bringing more snow, particularly in March. We have even had snow on my birthday (first half of May), which was a really fun birthday gift! Big fluffy flakes falling slowly. Magical! Mind you, there was no accumulation, but still, I was very tickled.  

According to The Weather Network for our area, "Ontario residents can expect a sluggish start to spring, with colder-than-normal temperatures and periods of snow and ice possibly persisting right through to [and possibly into] April". 

Yep, as stargazer mentioned, we also turned out clocks forward last night. I had 7.5 hours sleep (my usual), after reading until 10:15, then was up for a 65 minute brisk walk at 6 am. And because the sun does not rise here until 7:48 am now (EDT), I was able to get a bunch of stuff done around home before heading out to walk at 6:50, when it was still dark. No stars, though, as cloud-cover dominated, after a very rainy Saturday.

The next few days will feel early spring-like, then the weather drops cold again on Thursday, with daytime temperatures hovering right around freezing for eleven days following, with various chances of snow throughout that time period. Temps at night will be great for walking, around -5C / 23F.

"False spring number 1" ended last night with cold wind and some snow. It is barely above freezing this afternoon but the sun angle this time of year is strong and still melting snow.

A large storm is brewing near Alaska and while the storm track is quite uncertain this far out, it's possible we will have the largest snowfall of the season this weekend (perhaps 12 inches/320mm) with temperatures back in the single digits F/around -15C.

False spring here earlier this week, too, @stargazer. But now, we hardly had a breather, when the forecast snow began here around 9 this morning. And it is getting heavier. So beautiful! What a difference from last weekend when our temperatures reached 16°C / 60.8F, and our snowdrops bloomed. They are now frozen in place until mid-teens (Celsius) weather stays for a few days, which may not be until well into April. 

Those warmer temps melted most of our snow, but now the countryside is turning a pristine white again today, all around.   How I love the anticipation of a grand snowstorm!

The snow is falling even more thickly now. It is becoming another winter wonderland out there. I can hardly see across the street or, behind us, over the farmer's field. Magical!

Spring arrives here one week today, but winter is hanging on as long as it can. We are not complaining in the least! This morning was beautiful for a long, brisk walk, sitting at -5C / 23F, with a windchill feeling -10C / 14F. The dawn was red and fiery on the horizon until the rising sun sunk behind a huge cloud mass. 

We have very strong winds developing later today and into the evening. Tomorrow brings flurries, with more snow tomorrow night; Sunday has a rain-snow mix, although depending what the system does, the precipitation may gear to either one or the other. The nights next week remain cold. Again, great walking weather!

We also had the high winds yesterday, @jo. Sustained winds of 40mph/65 km/hr with gusts exceeding 60mph/95 km/hr.

Trivia note: the highest single-storm total snowfall in March here is 16.7 inches (425mm). This will likely exceed that.

A little reading material from the NWS regarding today's forecast here:

...WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 4 PM THIS AFTERNOON TO 4 AM CDT MONDAY... * WHAT...Heavy snow and blowing snow expected. Total snow accumulations between 12 and 18 inches, with locally higher amounts possible near the Twin Cities metro. Some sleet may mix in across the far south metro late tonight. Winds gusting as high as 40 mph.

Very similar here, yes, @stargazer (stay safe in all that snow!) ... to the point where we lost hydro power for eleven hours (from 1:15 am this morning to noontime today). The news was that the workers (thank you, Hydro One workers!) could not get it restored until tomorrow night at 11 pm, but then our area became one of focus, as 1500+ people in this rural area were affected, so the restoration time was changed to 11 tonight. However, to our delight, it was restored just after noon today.

Thankfully it wasn't bitter cold out during the outage, just a few degrees below freezing (albeit with a pretty good windchill), so we turned on our two gas fireplaces (one in the living room; the other downstairs in the family room), so they could help with the heat. Their fans, of course, could not come on to circulate the warmer air, but they still helped.

We were checking on one village neighbour in particular, a widowed lady in her early 60s, to ensure she was okay. Her power came on about a half hour after ours (she is on a different line), so we were relieved to hear that. We offered our home to her, in case she needed a warmer place. Thankfully, she has a small generator, which helped during the outage, at least with keeping warm. Anyone who lives alone should have people checking on them always, but especially at times such as this.

Right now, one would never guess there was such a terrific storm last night. It is currently sunny and comfortably cold (right around freezing), but more snow is on its way tonight ahead of another storm, which is moving in tomorrow morning—still snow, but the system could have mingled freezing rain and ice pellets as the temperature rises a bit. Strong winds, too, although gusts should be 'only' up to 70 kms / 43.5 mph, instead of 90 kms+ (56 mph). This storm should be over by early afternoon tomorrow.

Another adventurous weather day is in store! 

Hello from South Carolina, where I'm having a short holiday/vacation.  Spring has begin here, regardless of the calendar, with some quite warm temperatures and lots of individual trees covered in white or pink (slightly purple) blossom. A week today I'll fly home to autumn in New Zealand, and expect to see some colour changes in leaves.

It's hard to imagine trees in bloom with the piles of snow outside my window. 😉

Our weekend storm lived up to its advance billing, with the Twin Cities area receiving 10-14 inches (255-355mm), but some areas just to the southeast picked up over 26 inches (660mm).

High winds forced no-travel conditions even in the city, and interstates in southern Minnesota and parts of Iowa were closed due to blizzard conditions.

Temperatures Monday night dropped to around 0F/-17C even in the city, unusual for this late in the season.

Spring cannot be denied, however, with the equinox coming later this week. Right now the sun is out and snow is melting, and temperatures this weekend could exceed 55F/12C, depending on how much snow melts and how much fog we get from the melting. 

We are probably closing out our last cold snap of the year. We're supposed to hit 86F by Friday and it was 50F on Monday. We're going to have a hot summer most likely. 

I haven't posted in this thread in quite some time, and we've had many, many interesting weather days this winter. But we are now in the rollercoaster weather of springtime in the midwest. Our forecasted high temps for the next week look like this....

59F, 74F, 94F, 96F, 60F, 62F, 80F, 82F. 

I guess there's something here for everyone.....? 

@fantasia, our weather has been doing a similar roller-coaster thing this spring, though without that extreme heat, thankfully.

Monday, March 16: the low was 1F/-17C with piles of snow on the ground.

Saturday, March 21: a record high of 79F/26C, with almost no snow in sight.

Sunday, March 22: 44F/7C.

This upcoming week also has lots of ups and downs, though not the extremes in heat or cold.

Meanwhile in the North West of England, the weather was gloriously sunny and outright warm last Wednesday (I was in the Lake District, even further north than my own home, and I ended up in a T shirt for the first time since I left Australia in late February!!), and almost as sunny on Thursday... and then it turned cold again over the weekend, down to low single digits (Celsius) at night, and now there's rain predicted for tomorrow and — just maybe — a rumour of possible snow by the end of the week. I do love this bonkers country.