What’s going on with this winter’s weather?  Here locally we’ve only seen a few dustings of snow and the temperatures have been averaging 20 degrees above normal for the past week.

20 degrees.

It was 71 last Saturday (28 degrees above normal).  The forecast is for 73 on Thursday and 75 for Friday (you do the math).

Hello?  It’s February.

I took a walk today and snapped some pictures of blooming wild crocuses, which are already out all over the place.  At this rate, the daffodils will have come and gone before the second week of March and the forsythia will be blooming before St. Patrick’s Day.  I have some flowering cherry trees in front of my house that will most surely pop open their pink blooms before the weekend is out.

Dear Mother Nature, you do realize that Easter is still eight weeks away, don’t you?

It’s as if Jack Frost took advantage of one of those $53 Allegiant airfares and is taking a break down in Orlando (he probably didn’t have any luggage and saved a bundle on fees).  Maybe Punxsutawney Phil (the groundhog) got his local doctor to write him a prescription for Percocet (like he couldn’t get one these days), staggered out of his hole, gave everyone the finger, and went back to bed.

Now, I’m sure most of you will say “hallelujah!”  I’ll admit all of this sunshine and mild temperatures are pretty sweet.  For goodness sake, I’ve been sleeping with my windows open all week.  I’m hanging washing on the outdoor clothesline to dry and laughing at all of the cars headed to the Whitetail Ski Resort (ski conditions today?  slow and sloppy).  At this rate, I’ll be mowing grass before April.  I tried to take a drive down to Dam #5 this past Monday, but the parking lot was so jammed packed with bikers and hikers that I couldn’t even find a spot.

Let me remind everyone.  It’s February.

Now, I do have a minor in Physical Geography (that I got many moons ago from UMBC – go Retrievers!), but it doesn’t take a climate scientist to deduce that this isn’t a normal winter weather pattern.

I can’t begin to imagine how this is screwing up the timing of flora and fauna everywhere.  You just know that all of these plants will come out early and we’ll get a freezing blast in March that will kill everything off.  The bees will come out later this year and have nothing to gather pollen from (like bees haven’t had a rough enough time as it is).  Get ready for some high apple and peach prices this year.

For what it’s worth, enjoy it while it lasts.  Get out this weekend and take a hike, ride a bike, or just take a drive.  I’m sure Old Man Winter will wake up and remind us he’s still around before it’s all over.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to get my sheets off of the line.