It's the first day of spring here in the Northern Hemisphere, so...it snowed. Not nearly as much as jo's area received, but enough to add to the puddles as it melted.

One extreme to the other today. Well not extreme but still...... I walked to uni at about 9am and it has just stopped raining and it was very windy(a somewhat cold wind). I left uni t 4 and it was 30c, sunny and no wind at all.

I am over the summer because I want to wear my autumn/winter clothes because they are more abundant and nicer than my summer clothes.

Extremes seem the norm right now. We had a couple of days of above 40'sF, and everything was dripping. then a thick pack of wet, heavy snow half of which melts overnight. Now we are looking at below freezing again for the next few days.
Strange the effect it has on people. We are enjoy the warmth of the temps, knowing that spring is officially here. But we get depressed to see the dirt, and general garbage that is uncovered when the snow melts. Consternation sinks in when it snows again, as if to mock us one last time. But we are also relieved to see all the dirt covered again. At least temporarily.

Garbage around is no good. Do you have a yearly clean-up by any chance, usually coinciding with the Sunday after Pancake Tuesday?

So far the hot, humid, thundery weather persists. Our orange tree was in flower last spring, but those buds died, and now it is in bloom again.

I had to google 'Pancake Tuesday.' I feel like I should have known what it was. (I think it's more widely known in the US as 'Mardi Gras,' even if a relatively small percentage of us do the partying often associated with that expression).

I'm not aware of any widespread annual clean-up, but often local municipalities will tackle this, either with staff or volunteer efforts.

More snow again today, though with the sun angle increasing it just can't last long (the sun culminates - reaches its highest point in the sky - at 45 degrees high now here).

International Falls once again lives up to its "Nation's Icebox" title; yesterday it set a record low temperature for the date of -26F/-32C. Pretty cool for so late in the season. This morning was similarly cold but short of a record.

The MSP airport says the official snow depth is down to 2 inches/50mm, but everywhere I look there's a lot more than that.

Stargazer, we generally have pancakes for dessert on pancake Tuesday, though they are nice any time of year. That is what pancake Tuesday was, originally, in UK. Having a feast of the winter leftover store of meat etc before Lent starts on Ash Wednesday.

Mardi gras is the French term for pancake Tuesday, but in Sydney it is usually a parade held on a Saturday evening, either before or after the real thing. The cleanup has become a more generalised annual event, held the Sunday after Mardi Gras, usually by volunteers, companies, charitable organisations and people who simply need something useful to do. It was/is the brain child of someone called Ian McKiernan, and I've heard the idea has spread elsewhere. And I agree that I really should have posted this item on the Cultural thread.

Now that the Equinox has passed, you are now well and truly in Spring in the Northern Hemisphere, as we are in Autumn Down Under. It is raining quite heavily here, and temperatures are more reasonable for this time of year. Trouble is, the wild weather in the Indian Ocean, famed for the Roaring Forties, is hampering search for MH370. I wonder what the weather is like in Perth, itself, which is from where the search is being co-ordinated.

Thanks for that added information, wagga. Glad to see your weather is cooling off.

Now that the Equinox has passed, you are now well and truly in Spring in the Northern Hemisphere...

Perhaps. Just don't say that around here. While it's trying to drizzle here, lots of wet, heavy snow is falling just to the northwest and should arrive just in time for this evening's rush hour.

We still have 2 months left in the possible snow season and it's about 6 weeks until the average date of last frost, so it's going to be a while before spring really arrives (though April can be either hot or snowy). And meanwhile, my brother keeps sending pictures of blooming flowers in Seattle.

It's the first day of spring here in the Northern Hemisphere, so...it snowed.

Naturally. What else did we expect? As the saying goes, "What a lovely winter we're having this spring".

Is your area known for extremes like that, IlF?

But we get depressed to see the dirt, and general garbage that is uncovered when the snow melts. Consternation sinks in when it snows again, as if to mock us one last time. But we are also relieved to see all the dirt covered again.

Ha! That is so true. A fresh snowfall in the spring covers up so much ... gunk and junk.

wagga, Pancake Tuesday is very popular here. In fact, at our kids' elementary school (where I almost lived for years while volunteering there ), the male teachers all make pancakes for the female teachers. It was a long-standing tradition. And no one wanted it to change ... the females, in particular, lol.

Glad you're getting cooler temperatures, wagga!

you are now well and truly in Spring in the Northern Hemisphere

Not this past week. It has been almost frigid here again with biting winds and even snow periodically. However, our formerly huge banks are going down as above-freezing days have come our way now and then, but it's going to take quite awhile, methinks, before they're all gone. Thankfully the melting of the massive amounts of snow we have had over the months has been slow and gradual, which means there have not been problems with flooding, overall. Everyone was speculating how on earth we would handle it if we had mega-warm days to thaw all that bountiful white stuff.

As for the last frost, we know never to plant anything outside before our long weekend in May (the closest weekend to the 24th, which was Queen Victoria's birthday), but by the beginning of June, we're good to go with gardening.

And meanwhile, my brother keeps sending pictures of blooming flowers in Seattle.

Yep, we heard from the son of friends that out on Canada's west coast spring flowers are in full bloom. But they have hardly seen the sun, apparently, having received a lot of grey and rainy days. Wouldn't the flowers look extra pretty then, though?!

As for us here in southern Ontario, it does look like a bit of spring is on the way by Monday with the temperature jumping up to 10C/50F! But that's the highest temperature for the next couple of weeks. In fact, the looooong range forecast is wet snow on April 10th!

I chuckled aloud this afternoon when the Weather Channel folks talked about Atlanta's first 80F (27C) temperature since October 13, since it's been almost exactly the same length of time since we've reached 60F (16C). Of course, they are much farther south and no doubt laugh at what we think is a hot summer.

But 60F is indeed in reach today, and I will celebrate by grilling some Johnsonville brats in a nearby park.

Just got back from Iowa with my son for a Christian Sportsmen's Retreat. It was mid-60's there and windy. now we are back in mid-Minnesota, and it's already to cold to go out without a jacket.
From what I hear it's worse in Fargo, They are under a Winter Storm Warning, and are expecting 20" of fresh white stuff by tomorrow night.

Is your area known for extremes like that, IlF?

No not really. Perth is known for having possibly the nicest weather for any australian city. Though it depends on what you consider nice. Perth is rather sunny and I prefer the drizzly more grayish skys of Melbourne but many would disagree.

Today it has been raining. Not humid rainy either which is a nice change. Maybe this symbolises the end of summer?(One can only hope).

April showers bring May flowers, the old cliché goes.

But what do April blizzards bring? Flooding, perhaps.

Areas north and west of here received up to 20 inches (500mm) of fresh snow the last couple days, and the news had pictures of cars nearly buried in snow drifts.

Another storm is taking aim at us even now, with up to 10 inches (255mm) possible here by Friday.

How about April tornados? was just watching the local news showing film footage of a tornado that touched down in Minnesota. thankfully no injuries reported
But now we are expecting another storm to be dumping several inches of the white fluffy stuff starting tonight, through tomorrow, and into the night.
I keep looking about for some dratty little witch

The weather is fantastic. It is in the early to mid twenties and best of all it is meant to be like this to at least monday.

sorry star and puddle about your blizzards and storms. Most of our storms are in june/july.

No worries, IloveFauns. Blizzards are part and parcel of life here. It's just that some are saying winter's wearing out its welcome.

We get storms in June and July here - thunderstorms and occasional tornadoes (that's one thing about living this far north - the tornado season is shorter. Even now there are severe thunderstorms and tornado watches posted for areas around St Louis).

Meanwhile, we're under a winter storm warning for 7-12 inches (180-300mm) of wet heavy snow tonight into tomorrow. The big question as to how much we will get depends on when the rain changes over to snow. I was just outside and it's already turned over to sleet, so we may be on the heavy end of the estimate.

So it's time for another rendition of characters from Star Trek: TNG singing Let It Snow/Make It So.