I'm a winter lover. I'm officially ready for spring. These mornings at 8 degrees just need to stop

So glad rain fell in your area, Glim! What is your temperature these days?

Whoa, fantasia! Sounds like quite the storm. This winter has sure been exceptional over much of the continent!

A beautifully large band of rainclouds stretched ...

Mmmm, that's lovely!

I'm a winter lover too, and I could live with this beautifully cold, snowy weather for months yet. Well, until autumn arrives anyway. But then, how could autumn occur without spring or summer? Guess that plan won't work.

Our arctic air mass is still with us, giving us well below normal windchills around -30C/-22F at night; actual temperatures are about 10° above that. For the daytime hours, we are seeing around -12C/10F, but feeling a good deal colder with the wind. We received a lovely few inches of snow again on Saturday night (really pretty! how I ♥ when snow is falling), so the sidestreets are once again covered with that delightful 'crunch' when I walk. Flurries are expected off and on much of the week, with temperatures warming up to around freezing by Friday, but then dropping again through following week. Wow! I would love to see a couple more good snowstorms before this season waves g'bye. And since we can still get snow in April, that's a possibility. Plus March can be very snowy.

With this very cold weather, any cloudless nights highlight the gorgeous night/early morning sky ... like jewels in the heavens!

With this very cold weather, any cloudless nights highlight the gorgeous night/early morning sky ... like jewels in the heavens!

Love this!

Our weather also remains unseasonably cold and we've set a couple of coldest high temperatures for their respective dates in the past week. (Record lows at night are harder to come by; this morning's low of -10F/-23C fell short of the record). We've had 50 days below 0F/-17C this season, about twice the average and good enough for 5th place on the all-time record (right behind 1977-78, a winter I remember well as I didn't have a car and did a lot of walking).

Warmer temps (but still below freezing) are on tap for the rest of the week.

Despite the mountains of snow outside, we've only received about 60 inches (1525mm) this season, which is above average but far from a record (though March is our 3rd-snowiest month). Perhaps it's because none of it has melted due to the cold.

Sounds like the local weather report stargazer. the news channel said this was in the top ten for coldest since the 1870's.
Snow depths are playing havoc with roofs as well. A local grocery had an awning collapse yesterday, with no one injured. I was also told a part of the roof at the factory I work in was sagging. ( Thankfully not overhead )
Warmth seems determined to fight it's way to us however, as the projected highs for next Sunday are in the low, to mid 30'sF
But, then I must be realistic, and ask myself just how often have we been told one thing only to see the other
One bright moment of clarity though is the skies at night are still rather clear. The Mrs. and I were leaving an evening study at Church Sunday when we looked up to see Orion shining rather brightly even with a street light nearby.

when we looked up to see Orion shining rather brightly even with a street light nearby.

Beautiful! He's like a mighty old friend in the sky this time of year, isn't he?

Talking about records set, 'gazer, we found out we broke a record last night for this date (March 3) at -22C/-7.6F. The previous record, held back in 1964, was 5 (!!) degrees warmer at -17C/1.4F.

I mentioned that by Friday we have one 'warm-up' day to around freezing, but this weekend, guess what happens? The temperatures drop yet again.

Today we have gentle flurries coming down. Very pretty. And cold. What a surprise.

Orion certainly is a sight to behold. Now if the clouds stay away for a few more hours, maybe I'll get my first glance of the night sky for this month.

Southern Minnesota got 6-12 inches (150-300mm) of fresh snow yesterday, though the storm missed the Twin Cities and points north.

And once again little Embarrass, Minnesota made the national news as the cold spot in the Lower 48, bottoming out at a toasty -44F/-42C yesterday morning. That's a bit unusual for March.

And with the baseball opener a month away, the Twins are taking a variety of steps to ensure their playing field isn't under a pile of the white stuff. They're melting some of it and hauling some of it away.

So glad rain fell in your area, Glim! What is your temperature these days?

We have been having the mildest winter for a long time heer in Southern California. Lately we have been in a 50F/10C to 70F/21C range for lows and highs. Yesterday was 77F/25C and this week we could reach 80F/27C+!

(Saving big on electricity though by not having to run the heat very much. )

Had some adventure in driving today. Was on Hwy 10 heading North through the middle of Minnesota this morning. My first clue that all was not well was school delays being broadcast on the TV before we left. the second was the skating rink the Mrs. and I had to walk over to get to the garage.
Yep. Glare ice with little patches of clear spots to lull you into thinking it would be safe to drive over 50mph. We saw one spot on the highway where five cars, and one snow plow apparently played bumper cars. thankfully we saw no medical crew so we are hoping there were no injuries. Not ten miles past that there were two more cars, and two trucks in the snow.
Were it not for a funeral that we had to go to it would have been a good day to stay home.

We have had some crazy weather since late January. Cold, windy, rainy, storms, hail, and this week 2 days of solid rain caused flooding in lots of areas of Christchurch.

Some people are still waiting for their houses to be repaired or rebuilt three years after the earthquakes, and those in low lying areas have had water through their houses. Others have had mud slips from higher land beside their homes.

Fortunately we have had two sunny days since, and the famous Student Volunteer Army has reformed to send volunteers out to help clear and clean.

coracle, those flood pics you posted on FB were incredible. The first two you posted reminded me of our street when it floods. It's a lot of water to be sure, but not bad. Buuuut... the latter two pics would have made me extremely nervous. Hopefully everybody in your area was spared damage.

Today felt like the first day of spring. It was SOOOO nice out, and it's supposed to be just gorgeous this week with temps bouncing between the 50Fs and 70Fs (10C to 22C). Bring it on, I'm ready for spring! The first item on the list is to prune the grapevines before they activate.

Aha! The spring-predicting woodchucks, or whatever they are, seemed to be right on the money this year. It is about six weeks since February 2nd.

We are getting some nice hot weather still, though we have had some rain. Last January was the driest weather in Sydney for some time, and forty other records, mostly for heat and dust have been broken nationwide. Even the kangaroos have been doing it tough.

@coracle. Sorry about the weather in Christchurch and your flooding. We are told we are about to have another El Nino, among other things. We were watching a USA extreme weather program where they said that El Nino's bring a lot of storms to California, as well as the west coast of South America. But I don't know how it affects other places in the Pacific, apart from Fiji, which seems to be some sort of fulcrum. How does this weather phenomenon affect New Zealand, usually?

Finally the weather has began to cool off. My first two weeks in perth were horrible and hot. One day at uni last week I really needed to go home and change but I didn't have enough time between my classes. It is horrible doing chem and compounding labs in those lab coats in the heat.

Finally the weather has began to cool off. My first two weeks in perth were horrible and hot. One day at uni last week I really needed to go home and change but I didn't have enough time between my classes. It is horrible doing chem and compounding labs in those lab coats in the heat.

I believe you. My youngest daughter is also doing laboratory thingies as part of her job, having completed a science (environmental chemistry) degree. Anyway, it is "supposed to be" autumn at this moment.

The "heat" is on here today; it's 50F/10C at noon daylight time, the warmest temperature in about 5 months. We'll melt off several inches of our snowpack today. They say if we didn't have snow on the ground we'd be pushing 60F/15C.

Orion certainly is a sight to behold. Now if the clouds stay away for a few more hours, maybe I'll get my first glance of the night sky for this month.

I hope a clear night comes to pass soon for you, 'gazer! And that's interesting about the Twins' being preemptive and hauling away snow. Nothing like being prepared.

Yay for saving on the electrical bill, Glim!

Wow, Puddleglum, that sounds like very nasty driving. Glad you and the Mrs. are safe!

*agrees with fantasia about coracle's flood photos* That was really something! So glad to hear of the sunny days and of the students willing to help. How encouraging is that?!

It appears a number of us received a spring-like day today. The snow is definitely melting, but there is a 'ton' to go yet. Let's just hope this happens gradually rather than all at once. Our high today was 5C/41F: we have not seen this since last autumn, from what I recall. 'Twas almost getting too warm for me with that sun beating down. Tomorrow evening, however, Toronto is expecting a few inches of snow, and we at the western end of the lake, about double the amount ... just to freshen things up a bit.

Glad the weather is finally cooling off for those 'down under'.