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Spring backward

Clocks moving forward; winter isn't.

For the region's disappointed snow-lovers who were looking forward to those delightful spring-teaser days so characteristic of March as a consolation prize, we suggest you not read the rest of this post.

The longer-range indicators suggest that while the daylight hours will be extended starting Sunday, winter also is getting an extension.

The Climate Prediction Center's latest outlook says the odds favor below-normal temperatures through March 22, which would include the first two full days of spring.

Beyond that, according to the morning note from the Commodity Weather Group, the models show persistent atmospheric blocking, which would mean weather on the cool side the rest of the month.

The next few days should be decent, with temperatures well into the 50s, and are at a point in the calender where the normal high in Philly has reached 50.

However, a cool-down appears in the offing next week, and as for storm threats, after all that hasn't happened this winter, we'll spare you that discussion.

We did notice that the climate center's analog dates for the upper-air patterns centered on March 19 include March 6, 1962, the date of the devastating Ash Wednesday storm that redefined the Shore. That is not a forecast; only an analog.

We'll note that on this date last year, the temperature at Philadelphia International Airport soared to 70 in a month that finished an astonishing 8.7 degrees above normal.

A repeat is all but out of the question.