Change of Seasons Happened Weeks Ago...

Tomorrow evening astronomical Spring arrives, but our weather has been Spring-like for at least 6 weeks.

Look how warm the Southeast & Gulf coast are.   Normally, the garden centers advise not to plant tomatoes or tropical plants until after March 15th.  Heck, this year it could have been February 15th since we really didn't have much cold weather at all.  What is going on?

Satellite pictures show a well defined upper low off of Southern California bringing them much needed rainfall.  Typically these lows will track eastward across the southern states, but for most of this Winter, as one low kicks out and weakens, another drops down keeping the West Coast trough intact.   This keeps a SW upper flow over the Gulf coast and prevents any real cold air from reaching us.  We will have a weak front try to stagger through on Saturday and that should cool us from the 80s back into the low 70s.

Many parts of our country are getting rain or snow, but we haven't seen yet a strong storm system typical for this month.  The current western upper low will kick out into the Rockies and that will develop quite a snowstorm out into the central plains.   The last 2 weeks of this month could see some big storms, but they should stay well north of us.

Finally, I found some bread after going to 3 different supermarkets.  I asked the store manager if they just can't get the product (like toilet paper), but he said no.  The problem is people are still in panic mode and are buying 6-8 loaves instead of their usual 1-2.  They're buying toilet paper for 2 months instead of for 1-2 weeks.   And I don't even have to mention hand sanitizers and Lysol & bleach.  Eventually people will feel comfortable that they have enough supplies to get through this crisis and buying will return to "normal".  Scoot said it best on the radio when he pointed out how much better off we are compared to Katrina.  Our power grid is intact and our food supply is not interrupted.  We'll get through this as we always do and we will be a cleaner nation after the virus is gone.  Take a deep breath Gang, stay away from crowds and Stay tuned!