Singing Birds & Pollen Count Sure Signs of Spring & Summer Looks Hot, Hot, Hot!

John & Sue Frischie's singing Cardinals

You live and learn something from every storm and this winter has certainly been an education. We have had a whopping 12 storm systems in only about 8 weeks so far this year. We have seen storms in every shape and size just pound the Hoosier state. It has been the roughest winter many locals tell me since the blizzard years of the late 1970s. Even the 1970s are looking like walks in the park compared to this winter. So far this winter we have had two major floods, our December ice storm, two big snows including our second snowiest February on record, unprecedented ups and downs, severe weather in January and February, including five thunderstorms in our viewing area in February....etc. We have had thundersnow, thundersleet, and thunder freezing rain. The Midwest Climate Center is having trouble finding a February this stormy and the records date back to the 1800s! We have also been smacked around by weather systems that have had big snowfall differences from north to south. Yesterday our viewing area had snowfall ranging from about a half-inch in Crawfordsville to 10 inches in Rochester. This is what forecasting is all about and in my book it is what makes it so much fun! Apparently, Lafayette is not the only place seeing a lot of extreme weather this winter.

Check out this interesting link:

http://www.dailytech.com/Temperature+Monitors+Report+Worldwide+Global+Cooling/article10866.htm

Enough of all this stormy talk! Today's theme is Spring is in the air! Check out those cardinals above. The Indiana state bird is certainly one of my favorites. Here are some other signs of Springs below.

Sherry Foley's Pileated Woodpecker in Dayton

Sharon Emenhiser's Robin in the Snow

Dennis Massie's Boswell Sunrise

We have brighter days ahead with no big storm systems in the forecast at least through Sunday morning. We will even see a nice bright sunrise like we saw this past weekend in Boswell tomorrow morning! The birds are singing for good reason because meteorological Spring is only 3 days away. Our average high temperatures will be up to 50 degrees within the next 3 weeks. The pileated woodpeckers you see above I am used to seeing in Jacksonville, Florida. But I have learned that their range goes well up into Canada. They must feel confident about warmer days ahead even here in the frozen Midwest. Robins have become more numerous around the area and the robin you see above was actually spotted in the six inch snowfall up near Fort Wayne on Tuesday morning. Now for a sure sign of Spring...how about a pollen count. We have one here in Lafayette, believe it or not! I will post this here on the blog shortly and share it with you on tonight's news.

Our Blog Question of the Day: How hot does our summer look?

Keep those positive thoughts if you like swimming pools and bathing suit weather. But remember the sunscreen! :) Those wanting hot weather may get their wish. I will tell you why this summer may bring more 90 degree days than you are used to. Hint: It has to do with La Nina.