@johobbit: This week for a couple of days we are having a 'fake spring' 

Is a fake spring similar to an Indian summer? Whilst the temperatures aren't nearly as high has they have been in past years for March, it is still quite warm. But  the showers are allegedly back again, as La Nina hasn't gone away yet. So that is March, early autumn, in the South.  

Our weather smorgasbord is open. Within 150 miles/240km of my house we have (all at the same time): wet, heavy snow, severe thunderstorms with hail, plain old thunderstorms (which are over me now), and storm cells spinning up multiple tornadoes.

We set a record high of 62F/17C, breaking the record from 1879. Today it's only 42F/6C, and it's that strong cold front that is making all this happen.

Meanwhile, here in the space of just one day in western Kent, it's been windy, rainy, sunny, windy, rainy, sunny... I've just come back from a walk to the next village (for the tea room) and at first I was too cold without my hat and gloves, then too hot with them, then had to put them on again because it suddenly turned cold, then it started raining, so I put my umbrella up, then it stopped raining, then it started, then it stopped, then it started again... I THINK that was the approximate sequence of events. And now that I'm indoors, it's just turned sunny once again. I love English weather.

Posted by: @waggawerewolf27

Is a fake spring similar to an Indian summer?

I guess so, now that I think of it, yes, except on the front side of summer. A few warmer days in the midst of cold weather as spring approaches.

Are you still having showers, wagga? Do the leaves there turn quite colourful in the Autumn?

@stargazer: we had that warm day last Thursday, with temperatures around the mid-teens / high 50s-low 60s. Even my Stonecrop/Sedum plants showed some green, thinking it was later than mid-March, haha. They have been brought back to reality since then, as temps dropped to around freezing daily, then way below 0C at night, often with clear skies, so the stars and planets have been offering amazing sights!

I chuckled at your description of what we think of typical England weather, @Courtenay.

In looking at this week's forecast here, the daytime temps are to be above freezing every day, but nights are still plunging below, maintaining those beautiful, crisp nights. Great combination for making maple syrup!

Posted by: @jo

I chuckled at your description of English weather, @Courtenay.

Oh, it's not that far different from the weather in Melbourne and the surrounding region — central southern Victoria (Australia), that is, where I grew up. Our weather there is generally warmer than England's, of course, but just as changeable and unpredictable, in a "four seasons in one day" kind of way. Or as my dad always says, "If you don't like the weather, just wait five minutes!" So when I moved to the UK, the weather was one of the things that instantly made me feel at home.  

Posted by: @courtenay

Or as my dad always says, "If you don't like the weather, just wait five minutes!"

My dad liked to say that about our weather too.

Today is a good example. Just this weekend we were basking in 60F/16C weather, and now it's snowing, with several inches of accumulation expected. I was looking at the traffic cameras, and roads a couple hours south of here are almost impassable.

Meteorological spring may have begun a couple weeks ago, but "Minnesnowta" (as Grandmama calls it in the Gardening thread) is often an over-achiever in the snowfall department, with snow possible until nearly the end of May.

There is a larger, more impressive storm southwest of here, with places like Denver and southeast Wyoming getting mountains of the white stuff.

We've definitely got autumn rains, to the point of deluges & flooding. In this corner of the woods someone must have found a plug somewhere, & then released it..... This is when the thought of over full dams starts to worry, when we got 150 mm yesterdays with 200 or more mm expected today & tomorrow.

That's a lot of rain, wagga! We're expecting soaking rains (around 300mm possible) the next few days, which should green things up. Snow may follow on the cold edge of the storm. It's warm (54F/12C) and windy here today in advance of the coming storm.

Astronomical spring begins today in the Northern Hemisphere, with the equinox coming at 0437 local daylight time this morning (0937 UTC).

This rain session is 4 times our average March total. It is being called a Rain Bomb. There was a tornado yesterday closer to Sydney. Yesterday, Warragamba Dam, easily the biggest of our metropolitan dams, supplying 80% of its water consumption, started to overflow, & now all the sluice gates are in operation, including the central drum gate. The Warragamba Dam is on the Warragamba River, a tributary of the Nepean River, which has its own nearly full dam further South East in the Southern Tablelands near Bowral.  The overflow will cause flooding downstream, not only in the Nepean River at Penrith but beyond, at Agnes Banks & Yarramundi, at the confluence of the Nepean and Grose Rivers, where it becomes the Hawkesbury River, which will impact several places along the river, at North Richmond and beyond, down past Northern Sydney to Broken Bay. The Nepean will reach its peak later this afternoon. I have linked with this article

I don't think any flooding will reach where I am, as we are on the high side of the crest of a hill, well back from the river, though the water is tipped to rise to its highest peak since the late 1960's. But we are supposed to be ready to evacuate if necessary. Already homes across Sydney have been destroyed, & someone's house was washed away by the Manning River near Taree, on what was supposed to be their wedding day. 

As has been said: Life isn't meant to be easy.   Stargazer, that much rain you are getting could be tricky also. 

Oh my, @waggawerewolf27, what tremendous amounts of rain. And subsequently, flooding. Sure glad you're on the high side of a hill, but how are you faring now, a couple of days later.

In contrast, this is our fourth day of completely clear skies in a row, with the temperature in the mid-teens Celsius / high 50sF (unusual in March here for such a stretch). Tomorrow that changes with clouds moving in and a good bit of rain forecast over the next week. Lovely spring rains. I only wish yours would ease, wagga.

The past four nights have been totally clear as well, allowing for marvelous star-gazing.  

My early morning walks (switched from evenings when the time changed) are glorious with temps hovering around freezing, with little wind. Beautiful brisk-walking weather!

@johobbit how are you faring now, a couple of days later.

It has been raining solidly from before March 19th, & very heavily indeed on the weekend. The Nepean River reached a peak of 13 metres over its normal height, & the Warragamba outflow has aggravated the situation. But it has only just stopped raining just now, with the road surfaces drying out. Now is the time to beware of potholes. 

It was expected to be worse than it has been for the moment. The first rain bomb came from water sucked up from the Tasman Sea, also known as The Ditch. Another heavy rain cell has crossed the entire Continent from the Kimberleys in Western Australia to Kiama, south of Wollongong, but it seems to be running out of steam at the moment. I wonder if any of this rain has impacted New Zealand as well? 

We are still predicted to have a very wet Autumn, indeed. But I don't think we will be getting quite the 40 days & 40 nights just yet. Nice clear weather, such as you are reporting,  would be great for a change. But too much fine weather can be worrying also. I hope the koalas are doing fine. 

How is everyone doing, in North America, now the Spring Equinox has passed,  I wonder? It is quite cool here, for this time of the year, around 18C maximum. 

That rainfall sounds quite intense, @waggawerewolf27!

Posted by: @waggawerewolf27

But too much fine weather can be worrying also.

Indeed. This can be our concern here in Ontario mainly in the month of July, when it is most likely for us to have a few weeks without rain. Poor farmers, in particular! July is our hottest/most humid month, so, yeah. Not nice.

We are winding down from our unusually warm March week here. This is more like late April and May weather. I was out gardening (cleaning up winter messes) for a long time this morning, but we won't be able to plant for another couple of months, as there is a risk of snow and frost for weeks yet. In fact, I just saw we may be expecting some snow on Monday.  

Daytime temperatures here will be in the high single digits Celsius for the next week, with a fair bit of rain, along with that potential snow early next week. Nighttime, however, will be right around freezing, give or take a wee bit.  

Our rain is slowly coming to an end, after several days of generally light rain, the kind that might soak better into the ground (even if it is still mostly frozen). We received around 55mm (my earlier post was in error; I think I was translating a snow report or something ). We're on the cold side of the storm, so it's blustery out there, with snow falling north and east of here.

*hugs the current weather* I want it to stay like this for all time. It's so nice out. And the kids all try to escape me by going outside all the time. It's a win-win situation. And the best part about early spring is that there are no bugs yet so I can have doors and windows open.  

Meanwhile, we're having a spring rollercoaster of weather. Yesterday was extremely windy (gusts over 50 mph/90 kph) and a high of 73F/23C. A cold front (literally) blew through overnight, dropping temperatures close to 35F. Today we have wind chills and tonight will be well below freezing.  

But after a day or two more of cooler weather, it gets hot again, with Easter possibly reaching 80F/27C.