The Mrs. and I were actually considering a fire for this coming Friday.
We actually saw the first mosquito of spring, ( and promptly I defended My Lady's safety by ending the little parasites reign of terror. ) which is not a good sign.
Just yesterday morning I saw what must have been three dozen robins feasting under a cherry tree. I can guess they were building up calories to keep warm because later in the day it was snowing. Thankfully there was not much, because it was the heavy slushy "heart attack" sort. I melted by morning, and required no shoveling, so no troubles there.
So we are starting to see some "hope" as it were, but we are also reminded of some undeniable facts. Despite the experts, God is in charge of the weather, and He has a sense of humor.

We finally got some lovely spring-time rain last night and this morning. Just over an inch and it wasn't too heavy or too light. Yay! We were starting to hurt a little bit from the lack of moisture.
However, we're expecting up to an additional 3" tonight through tomorrow. Yikes! Followed by thunderstorms Tuesday and Wednesday.
This is more of the spring Kansas weather I'm used to.
I saw a news story that said because this spring has been so mild for this region, that we should be prepared for a really rough May. I guess we'll see.

Despite the experts, God is in charge of the weather, and He has a sense of humor.

Yes, we already know, and were reminded last month, that we "Down Under", are really "down under".

I would be a bit concerned about a hot summer up there in the attic, however. It is only April, and it was 41C in New Delhi the day before yesterday. It also seems to be earthquake season. First Myanmar, then Japan and then Ecuador. Scary.

In typical Minnesota fashion, we skipped over spring and went directly to summer. From snow to 80F/27C in about 30 hours (unlike autumn, which can last for weeks ).

The trees are exploding with that light bright shade of green that means new growth - and with clouds of pollen that make me sneeze. Whew! Can't wait till that part is over. (Of course, then the mosquitoes come out ).

@ Stargazer: That lovely "light bright shade of green that means new growth" does sound really enticing. Currently we are in the middle of a big dry. The weather has cooled down to more normal daily temperatures, but not by as much as it might have done. Blowflies still hang around, later than is usual. Even the cicadas are still in full voice as if it was still midsummer. We are promised a genuine cool change, but the question is.... when? El Nino is still on the prowl, and, just like you say that autumn can last for weeks, it seems the same is true of us in Australia, below the Tropic of Capricorn.

Today was about the perfect weather. 69F/20C, sunny, a light breeze. We're camping out in the backyard tonight, hopefully it will go well (my husband's allergies have kind of exploded).
But we may be in for some rocky weather coming up on Sunday and Tuesday. Both days are calling for severe storms, including hail, high winds, heavy rain, and possibly a tornado.

I haven't posted in here since March 2? Disgraceful. But I've kept up with reading everyone's reports, interesting, as always.

I can't remember all our highs and lows here in SW Ontario over the last couple of months, but the big event of the past month is that we had a significant ice storm the day before Good Friday, so on March 24. We were out of power for 18 hours; others were much less; others were a fair bit longer. One sure appreciates hydro and water after an event like that. Many large tree branches came down. Quite the adventure! We had offers from friends of their homes, and then we, in turn, once our hydro came back on, offered the same to others who were without.

Our spring has been weird. April has been very cool, overall, with the exception of the days surrounding April 17 weekend. Tonight is going down to freezing (weather I love walking in!). Oh, we heard that apparently we almost got more snow in April than we received in February. Very unusual.

Temps are below normal this week; not sure when they'll be picking up.

Spring flowers are trying to come out, but are as confused as the birds and humans are, lol.

The farmers are turning over their acres of fields and the cows are out in the now-green pastures ... I love those serene sights!

Stay safe, those of you in tornado alley!

We have had the opposite, jo--unseasonally hot weather. As in, a week and more of 30 C weather--far too hot. The last few days have been better, with rain and wind and cloud cover. It feels like we've gone back to winter, though, in a comparative fashion--thankfully without the ice storms. Glad you weathered it okay.

Spring flowers are trying to come out, but are as confused as the birds and humans are

Here, the lilacs are out, and so are the roses. Roses in April!?! Roses don't bloom in April. Roses bloom in June. I guess ours didn't get the memo.

My brother in Seattle routinely regales me with tales of blooming flowers while we still have snow on the ground. This year is no exception.

The same big storm that brought tornadoes, wind, and hail to Tornado Alley is coming my way, promising more cold rain tonight...and snowflakes may mix in tomorrow morning! Ah, spring.

@Stargazer: I'd imagine that someone who lives in Seattle would have weather heavily influenced by the Pacific Ocean so it might well be milder than elsewhere in Northern America. Meanwhile, Autumn has finally arrived. It is even quite cold in the night, even though daytime temperatures are still pleasant. Time for flu vaccinations all round.

'tis true, wagga, that Seattle's climate is moderated by the Pacific. Snow there is rare while here it is common. Summers tend to be cooler there than here.

Speaking of which, we are having a glorious weather week here with highs around 18-20C with no bugs or humidity. The clear blue sky begs one to enjoy time outside before the heat sets in. The high on Friday may reach 90F/32C. I'm not ready for that.

Jet stream winds from the northwest are expected to bring hazy smoke to us tomorrow, from that huge fire in northern Alberta.

Last weekend's weather ended up being fairly tame in our neck of the woods (I guess it got bad in the southeast, though i'm not sure). We got a nice amount of rain over a lengthy period of time. Close to 5" at my house I believe? The worst cell we had go over boasted straight-line winds of 70mph. No major damage though as far as I could tell.

Our next round of potentially severe storms starts Saturday night through Monday morning, with the biggest chance on Sunday afternoon: Mother's Day.

Meanwhile yesterday's weather was perfect. Yes, I used the word perfect. My son and I were outdoors for pretty much the whole afternoon and evening. My poor daughter was sick so she wasn't interested in joining us. Today's weather was almost perfect, with slightly higher temperatures, but the inside of my house got a little more toasty than I like. I turned the AC back on this evening because I'm afraid i won't sleep otherwise.

Take care though. Kansas is a good step away from Alberta in Canada but that firestorm on the news doesn't look good at all. And it bodes ill for your summer which hasn't really begun yet. It sounds really terrible in Fort McMurray, I think it was called, and a good deal worse than what we have routinely endured, even in the worst of our dry summer years.

We have had almost perfect weather, dry with crisp mornings. I haven't been as well as I liked because of fire hazard reduction burnoffs causing haze. But rain is to come on Mother's Day.

Friday was a rather interesting weather day here. The heat was on by mid-morning, and by noon the small town of Two Harbors (in northeast Minnesota on the shores of usually-cooling Lake Superior) was pushing 90F/32C, tying it for the hottest location in the US at the time. By afternoon, the Twin Cities shattered an 82-year-old record high, reaching 92F/33C.

Part of Interstate 94 buckled due to the heat, backing up traffic. Those digital traffic update signs called it "pavement failure."

After dusk the wind shifted to a normally cooling north direction, but it blew in smoke not only from the Alberta fire but another one in northern Minnesota. Hazy skies from distant fires isn't that uncommon, but by midnight this was extreme. It was like fog, and the air was filled with an acrid smoke smell very unlike the pleasant aroma of a wood fire.

The winds eventually blew the worst of the smoke and smell away but the area remains under an air quality advisory and the sky is a dull blue or milky white.

And now they're talking about frost next weekend. (The average date of last frost here is May 10).

@wagga, in the last few weeks we have had enough rain here that we are not currently concerned about fires, mostly flash flooding. But things can change very quickly, especially once the heat and winds of summer arrive, we don't usually get much precipitation.

@Gazer, 92F?!?! That's crazy for up there! We hit 82F Friday and 84F yesterday. A good deal cooler than 92F. Hope you were inside someplace cool.

Today we have perfect rumbley thunderstorms moving through the area, with showers in between. I believe this afternoon or this evening we're supposed to get more severe stuff, though I don't think the chance for tornadoes is very high, mostly hail and high winds. We'll see what happens.