♪♪ >> Cathy: IT'S BEEN KIND OF A SERIOUS SHOW SO FAR TONIGHT SO WE'RE GONNA TAKE A MOMENT TO BREATHE AND TALK ABOUT ONE OF MY FAVORITE TOPICS, THE WEATHER.

YESTERDAY, MARCH 20TH, WAS THE FIRST DAY OF SPRING, AND, BOY, IT KIND OF FELT LIKE IT.

EVEN WITH SOME MORE INTENSE SNOWSTORMS IN RECENT WEEKS WINTER REMAINS THE STATE'S FASTEST WARMING SEASON OVER THE PAST FEW YEARS.

HERE TO TELL US ABOUT THAT TREND AND A WHOLE LOT MORE KENNY BLUMENFELD, CLIMATOLOGIST.

SPRING IS ONE OF MY FAVORITE MONTHS BECAUSE IT'S SO WEIRD IN THE STATE OF MINNESOTA.

IT'S EVER-CHANGING.

>> SPRING IS GREAT.

I MEAN, THINK ABOUT IT, IT STARTS OUT LIKE WINTER AND ENDS UP LIKE SUMMER AND IT'S FAST.

>> Cathy: WHAT'S THE DEAL HERE ABOUT -- CAN YOU EXPLAIN WHAT WE'RE LOOKING AT HERE WHEN IT COMES TO SOME OF THE STRANGE -- IT IS CHANGEABLE ANYWAY IN MARCH BUT IT SEEMS LIKE IT'S GOING LIKE THIS, YOU KNOW.

>> YOU MEAN THE DIFFERENCE IN MARCHS IN PARTICULAR?

YEAH, MARCH IS KIND OF STUCK, RIGHT?

BECAUSE IT IS AFTER FEBRUARY WHICH IS REALLY KIND OF THE LAST FULL MONTH OF WINTER, RIGHT?

BUT MARCH, YOU KNOW, SOMETIMES IT GETS STUCK TOO.

AND THEN SOMETIMES IT'S REALLY KIND OF OFF TO THE RA RACES AND REALLY WARM.

AND OF ALL OF THE MONTHS IT SHOWS LESS OF SOME OF THE TRENDS THAT WE SEE.

I MEAN, IT IS GETTING WARMER BUT IT ISN'T GETTING SNOWIER THE WAY THAT OTHER WINTER MONTHS HAVE BEEN GETTING SNOWIER EVEN THOUGH APRIL HAS BEEN GETTING SNOWIER.

>> E, HAVE YOU COMPLETED THE STY OF THE WINTER DATA?

WHAT WAS OUR WINTER LIKE?

>> OH, WE CAN'T PUT IT IN PAST TENSE YET, WINTER'S TILL -- WE HAVE 'TIL THE END OF APRIL.

>> Eric: FAIR ENOUGH.

>> BUT SO FAR REALLY IT'S BEEN VERY LOW SNOWFALL, VERY LOW SNOW COVER IN PARTICULAR, AND IT'S BEEN PRETTY CLOSE TO NORMAL TEMPERATURES BASED ON 1991 TO 2020 AVERAGES.

>> Cathy: REALLY?

>> WE HAD SOME COLD PERIODS, WE HAD SOME WARM PERIODS AND THEY BASICALLY EVENED OUT.

I MEAN, IT WAS PRETTY CLOSE TO A TYPICAL WINTER TEMPERATURE-WISE.

BUT REMEMBER, TYPICAL NOW IS WARMER THAN TYPICAL USED TO BE, SO, GOT TO TAKE THAT INTO ACCOUNT.

>> Cathy: YOU MENTIONED THE LACK OF SNOW COVER.

IT IS DRY, DRY, DRY.

THAT DROUGHT MONITOR DIDN'T LOOK THAT GREAT THIS WEEK.

>> NO, I MEAN WE'VE BEEN KIND OF HAVING DROUGHT CREEPING BACK IN.

WINTER IS OUR DRY SEASON SO THE DROUGHT CATEGORIES DON'T USUALLY ADVANCE TOO MUCH OR IMPROVE TOO MUCH DURING THE WINTERTIME.

BUT WE ARE REALLY LOW ON SNOW AND WHAT WE'RE LOWEST ON IS THE SNOW PACK.

THAT'S A REALLY IMPORTANT THING BECAUSE WE HAVE TO HOLD THE WATER IN THAT SNOW PACK AND THEN RELEASE IT IN THE SPRING MELT.

AND IF WE DON'T DO THAT WE DON'T REPLENISH OUR STREAMS, LAKES, SOIL MOISTURE.

>> Eric: ARE THERE TRENDS ON WHAT WE CAN EXPECT FOR SUMMER?

>> I MEAN, WE KNOW SUMMER IS GOING TO BE WARMER THAN SPRING, BUT.

[ LAUGHTER ] >> Eric: I HAD THAT COMING IN.

I WAS LOOKING FOR A LITTLE MORE MAYBE.

>> I MEAN, THE OUTLOOKS ARE PRETTY TOUGH.

THE FORECASTERS ARE EXPECTING A LA NINA, BIG LA NINA WINTER, AND THE STRENGTH.

LA NINA BARELY DECREASED AND BARELY QUALIFY IT'S IT DOES AND THAT DECREASES THE SIGNAL, PREDICTABILITY OF WE HAVE FOR THE NEXT SEASON.

THERE HAVE BEEN SIGNS FOR MAYBE WARM AND DRY SUMMER, ESPECIALLY THE LATTER PART OF SUMMER BECAUSE THAT'S COMMON AFTER LA NINAS.

BUT NOW WE'LL SEE WHAT THE NEXT CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER OUTLOOK IS.

BUT IT'S, MINNESOTA'S NOT IN ANY REALLY DEEP CATEGORIES OF DROUGHT CONCERN FOR THE SUMMERTIME.

WE'RE ALWAYS WORRIED ABOUT IT.

WE'RE ALSO ALWAYS WORRIED ABOUT EXTREME PRECIPITATION, SO.

>> Cathy: RIGHT.

I MEAN THERE'S NO WAY TO GO AHEAD AND JUDGE AS TO WHAT KIND OF SEVERE WEATHER SEASON WE MIGHT HAVE BASED ON WHAT OTHER AREAS OF THE COUNTRY HAVE BEEN SEEING?

>> IT'S BEEN ACTIVE AND WE'VE HAD SEVERE WEATHER CREEPING NORTH INTO ILLINOIS RECENTLY, WE HAD TORNADOES IN ILLINOIS TWO DAYS AGO.

AND SO I THINK THAT IF WE REMAIN IN THIS ACTIVE PATTERN, WHICH, YOU KNOW, ACCORDING TO THE FORECASTS AND THE FORECASTERS, IT LOOKS LIKE WE'VE GOT AT LEAST A COUPLE MORE WEEKS OF BEING IN AN ACTIVE PATTERN, BUT IF THAT CONTINUES INTO SPRING AS IT DID LAST YEAR, THEN WE MIGHT EXPECT, YOU KNOW, A LOT OF SEVERE WEATHER OR AT LEAST A LOT OF RAINFALL NO WAY OF KNOWING NOW.

>> Cathy: THE RAINFALL WOULD BE GOOD.