Spring hopes seem eternal as winter drags its feet and sunshine and warm temperatures continue to be elusive.
On Easter Sunday, many churchgoers showed their readiness for spring, braving the chill and refusing to cover up their holiday finery with bulky jackets. And they just may have been trendsetters.
AccuWeather meteorologists say Northeast Pennsylvania will bid a final goodbye to the inter-season purgatory this week. Next week, AccuWeather's Andy Mussoline said, will mark the permanent arrival of something that feels like spring.
"We keep getting that question: When will the warm weather arrive?" he said. "Now we can say pretty confidently, next week."
But one more sloppy, if warmer, week remains. Temperatures today will reach 48, an improvement, but still short of the average of 53 degrees, the meteorologist said, noting that a cold front is reaching into the area. Today will be cloudy, breezy with a possible shower. Tuesday, the wind gets colder and harsher. There may even a few flurries with temperatures hitting just 39 degrees. Wednesday should be more of the same.
It won't be until Thursday that temperatures have a chance of hitting 50 with a good amount of sunshine being delivered. That should be the start of real spring.
"This persistent cold pattern through much of March is showing signs of breaking, and next week and into mid-April we have good opportunity of seeing warmer air, and temperatures solidly in the 50s where we belong," Mr. Mussoline said.
For as long as winter dragged on, it really wasn't that bad. Snowfall at the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport was 33.4 inches for the season, off from the average 42.9 inches. Temperatures were about 1.8 degrees above average from Dec. 1 through March 31.
But coming off such a warm winter in 2011-12, people are often unconvinced, Mr. Mussoline said. The winter dragging on and ending on a such cold note didn't help, he added.
"Last winter was so warm and set records all over the place," he said. "This winter brought us back to reality. While the general perception is that it was much colder, overall it was pretty average - even mild."
The payoff for enduring a nagging winter may be spring itself. While the season - technically already under way - began colder than normal, Mr. Mussoline said the region will come out of the cold faster than originally thought. AccuWeather models show a warmer-than-normal latter half of spring.
While AccuWeather's team is still working on projections for the summer, Mr. Mussoline said having spring end on a warmer note bodes well for summer.
Contact the writer: dfalchek@timesshamrock.com