Spring: Astronomy and reality
Spring arrives before dawn; spring weather won't.
The trees behind the impressioinistic veil of the fog this morning were swollen beautifully with the subtle colors of buds.
Later, we were delighted to see the sun muscle through the congested skies, and the dramas of the storm-remnant clouds.
As much as we enjoyed it all, we are about ready for some actual spring warmth.
But with the equinox due at 7:02 a.m. tomorrow, nature evidently has no interest in cooperating.
The computer models are calling for chill from here to Easter and beyond. Officially, the latest Climate Prediction Center outlook has temperatures below normal for the next two weeks.
Unofficially, it's not clear when we sill see a serious warm-up.
Temperatures for the next week aren't expected to reach 50 at a time when they should be hitting at least the mid-50s.
As for snow threats, a couple of coastal storms are forecast to develop during the next several days, but the best guesses now suggest that snow will continue to snub Philadelphia.
The National Weather Serivce sees a slight chance of rain Thursday from the first storm, and mostly rain from the second one early next week.
We note that on March 20 last year, the high in Philadelphia was 78; tomorrow will be about 30 degrees colder.