Mar 18, 2016

It’s Finally Here! By Tim Hodson

Breaking news! Spring arrived yesterday.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the winter of 2016 has been the warmest of the previous 121 years on record across the contiguous United States.

The NOAA reports that the average temperature in the 48 states was 36.8° F — beating the record in the winter of 1999-2000 of 36.5° F

While El Niño has been fairly kind to us in the Chicago area this winter, Mother Nature has still taken us on a pretty crazy ride.

Since the beginning of the year, the thermometer has dropped as low as -2° F on Jan. 18 (pretty balmy compared to the last couple of years) and as high as 68° F on Feb. 28.

We did not have as much snow this year so my snow blower did not get the workout that it has had in recent years. But we still got plenty of precipitation. My muddy yard will attest to that fact.

And several times this winter, we’ve had to deal with high winds, including last week. I know Chicago is known as the Windy City, but day-long “wind events” with sustained wind gusts of 50+ MPH have been no fun at all.

We all know how unpredictable Mother Nature can be. I’m sure we’ll still see a few snowflakes flying in the air in the coming weeks. But one thing is for sure, Spring is finally here!

How was winter in your region this year? Warmer or cooler than last year? Did you get enough precipitation? What’s the forecast for the coming weeks? Are your ready for spring?

Drop me a line at thodson@greatamericanpublish.com and give me your weather report.

— Tim