Winter: Can it really be the end?

As our forecast notes, records could fall this week, as late May temperatures crash into March.

And with a rare certainty, the government's Climate Prediction Center is bullish on warmth dominating much of the country for the next two weeks.

Its outlook sees an 80 percent likelihood of above-normal temperatures around here for that period, which includes the onset of spring, with a 97 percent chance that it won't be cooler than normal.

So is the region absolutely done with snow until the winter of 2016-17?

We feel safe in saying that it can't possibly snow anywhere near here through Sunday. No remote threats are in sight next week either, but in deference to chaos theory, we're stopping at Sunday.

Philadelphia's snow records date to the winter of 1884-85, and as a cautionary note they do suggest that winter has a pesky habit of lingering.

From March 14 through April 27 -- the very last date on which measureable snow has been reported officially in the city (that happened back in 1967, incidentally) – on average just under 2 inches has been measured annually in Philadelphia.

On average, measureable snow has fallen on about four days during that 45-day period.

As one might expect, most of the totals have been paltry, although that was not the case on April 3-4, 1915, when Philly was buried under 19.4 inches.

If any snow is in on the horizon, computer models don't know about it yet, nor do the people who watch them closely. Nary a rumor can be found on the phillywx chat board.

In the near term, temperatures are forecast to reach 77 Wednesday – the record is 73 – and 76 Thursday, which would match the record.

We also can promise that the sun will be setting an hour later starting Sunday, and spring will arrive first thing March 20.