The arrival of spring

There has been so much cool, breezy, damp weather in recent weeks that I was beginning to think that milder weather would never arrive, in spite of the early spring predicted by that famous Pennsylvania groundhog. The weather this week has been balmy, but I still had my doubts that spring had actually sprung. Seeking reassurance, I checked my calendar and found that spring will officially begin next Wednesday (at 7:02 a.m., to be precise). Searching for even more reassurance that winter might soon depart for good, I checked the long-range weather forecasts for Punta Gorda and discovered some wonderfully reassuring facts. First, NOAA weather service is predicting above-normal temperatures and below-normal precipitation for the next 90 days for our region. Even better, and more to the point, in their 30-day forecasts the prognosticators at The Weather Channel are predicting a high temperature in Punta Gorda of at least 80 degrees every day for the rest of the month. Now I feel better.