Heat Wave!

I saw something very unusual yesterday, something I hadn't seen in many, many months. My first thought was that the weather app on my phone was malfunctioning.  I haven't seen a number starting with 5 anywhere near the forecast since it was, well 5° last week. I guess should clarify--I haven't seen a double digit number starting with 5 in the forecast since...I can't even remember.

Knocking on the door of 60°? After 5PM? On March 6th?!  This unexpected warmth was accomanpied by a strange, bright, downright blinding orb that slowly progressed across the sky as the day wore on, eventually disappearing behind the western horizon. It seemed foreign, yet strangely familiar. Then, after nighttime arrived, clouds rolled in and an unusual form of non-icy liquid precipitation proceeded to fall from the sky...

When I left the gym last night, drenched in sweat and wearing my usual shorts and sweatshirt, the temperature was mildly uncomfortable, a pleasant downgrade from the evil, painful kick in the groin that Mother Nature has insisted on handing out every day for the past six months.

Best of all, yesterday marked the death of countless snowmen in the area, the body count piling up as Mother Nature slowly did away with a nice portion of all that annoying Leap Day snow.  When I peered out my window this morning, the view was already 23% less depressing than last week's image:

Sure, as I write this, the temperature is hovering around the freezing point, but things are looking up.  Sixties by early next week, and there are an awful lot of little blinding orbs in that forecast.  But this is Minnesota, after all, so my optimism is tempered with caution. For all I know, this time tomorrow I could be staring down Leap Day Part II.