Weather 2013

[Lis Allison]

It's the wild swings that cause the problems. A few days ago we had night-time lows of -28C..... today it is +2C. My driveway is a skating rink, and my garden has 2' of ice on top of it. Used to be snow until it rained last week and yesterday.

But compared to the Eastern US, we've been pretty lucky so I won't grumble too much. And at least it is not a drought winter.

[cohan]

We get the swings, but just not as much moisture, generally... We've had some rain forecast several times this winter, but never got anything noticeable out of it.. Today had been forecast for rain as well, then they took it away, now for Rocky, west of us they say again possible rain showers this evening then 5-10cm of snow overnight.. for Red Deer, east of us, there is no rain, just possible 5 cm of snow... We could get anything between those two possibilities..
Yesterday's high was around +10C and Tuesday's high is -8...

[Hoy]

It swings here too! It started in November and since then the temperature has oscillated in a regular manner but with much colder weather than normally here. The mean temperature for this winter is far lower than normal.
This is from the closest weather station for the last two months:

[cohan]

We were mostly below average, but without the coldest temps we expect to have some of, from end of Oct until late Dec, and since then mostly above average with a few short colder spells.. still no -30 which is quite surprising! Luckily we did not get the rain yesterday, just another 5-8 cm of snow... They also took away the forecast for -8C- now our coldest day this is supposed to be -5C, with nights from -9C to -18C

[cohan]

Winter isn't done with us yet- not that I thought for a moment that it was- we've had snow on the ground for just under 5 months, this is this week's forecast;fortunately they removed the possible rain from tomorrow's forecast, there is already a lot of ice around from melting snow, we don't need rain to make it smoother:

[externmed]

Galanthus in full bloom today in northeast USA, were up 2 inches in early January, then snow covered.  Then about 3/4 grown when last seen about a month ago, now snow mostly gone again yesterday, perhaps for the last time; but we can get snow rarely in May.
Winter 2012 was winter-less, approaching zone 6b-7 though plant deaths didn't fit, perhaps because of little snow cover.
Fairly consistent trend, here, of higher than normal low temperatures.  Highs have been about normal this season, which is lower than the last several years.
Voles and deer doing just fine -- as usual. (sigh!)

[cohan]

I'm wondering about voles here too- they've already had the shelter of snowcover for almost 5 months, and some time to go yet!
We didn't get nearly as warm as forecast today, only around/just above the freezing mark, Lori's area was much warmer though..
I wish we had some members in Lethbridge, Alberta- seems they've barely had daytimes below the freezing mark this winter- really curious what gardening is like there- more like Denver? or..?

[Hoy]

Well, we have barely had daytime temperatures above the freezing mark this winter The next week is supposed to be sunny and cold - as the last week and the week before that. . . . This will probably last all April too! Some people like it though - the skaters

[cohan]

Trond- reminds me of what we say about rainy times in summer- 'Good weather --for ducks!'
We have a 'snowfall warning' tonight- maybe up to 10 cm by morning- not sure why that much snow would need a warning, but they always give one... and we might be a bit far east for that amount (hopefully, less or no shovelling would be good!)
Our days this week are forecast from -1C t -11C and nights from -8C to -17C..

[RickR]

NOAA predicted weather outlook for the U.S., spring:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FIujXD0NElc

[Tony Willis]

Just left frozen Manchester and arrived in Crete. Struggling a bit with the heat at 26c (78f) watching a man swimming in the sea whilst having a beer.Life can be hard!

[Jandals]

That's what I was doing last week Tony . Took a few pictures whilst I was out there

[Hoy]

Can't say I struggle with the heat here! Although I get a bit warm when cross-country skiing in the bright sun! It's -20C during the night and -5C during the day even in the middle of a fine day here at 1000m.

[externmed]

April 6, 2013 Near freezing, dry and windy here, Jet Stream map tells at least part of the story.
Suggesting cold in New England, USA and Norway, maybe seasonable in the UK, particularly southern aspects. 
My added green arrows attempt to summarize the flow to New England (from Alberta), to Norway (from nearish the north pole) and UK (somewhat from the Gulf Stream)

map from   http://squall.sfsu.edu/crws/jetstream.html

Charles Swanson Massachusetts USA

[McDonough]

Charles, that says it all, with our stop-and-start and stop-again spring this year.  Had a brief break yesterday, relatively warm and sunny, the crocus smiled and opened widely, then down to 26 F last night, it put the kibosh on many crocus blooms; while sunny again today way too cold for the blooms to open, many are already fading, I'm sure the strong freeze overnight curbed possibility of extended bloom.  Supposed to go down to 25 F tonight; still waiting for real spring weather.