Weather Eye: Mild winter continues; subtle spring signs seen

The weather is going as expected, with a good soaking today and things drying out over the weekend. Temperatures will remain a little above average with highs in the 45- to 50-degree range and no freezing weather anticipated.

Next week still appears to have a progressive weather pattern with a series of regular winter-type systems moving inland. Hopefully snow levels remain at 4,000 feet so we build our snowpack. No snow or cold are seen here in the lowlands any time soon.

I have received a few emails from readers about subtle signs of spring. Some flowering trees are budding and a few blooms showing. A butterfly bush has flowers, a Californian lilac is blooming and even some sheltered geraniums are budded. Oh, and let’s not forget the pussy willows.

Maybe because the fall and winter have been relatively mild it has some shrubs and trees a little confused. Not out of the ordinary, it seems each winter in January we have some oddities popping up despite the weather. Although January 2017 was brutal.