I am verklempt. Not sure if I should wear a parka over my shorts? Do ear muffs and flip-flops pair well? It's like winter and spring are in a battle of dominance over us right now.
By the way, the Twin Cities area just saw its biggest 36-hour temperature drop since 1945 — a drop of 59 degrees from Monday afternoon (65) to Wednesday morning (6). Weather whiplash exhibit A.
And now comes the obligatory "warm bounce" with 50 degrees today and 60s this weekend. By Sunday afternoon it should feel like early May with an outside shot at 70 and a few rough afternoon/evening thunderstorms.
El Niño is slowly fading and yet a hyper-persistent warm signal continues. In fact long-range weather models show consistent 40s and a few 50s into mid-March. I keep waiting for the "early spring" narrative to fall apart with a conga line of Arctic fronts making up for lost time — but I still don't see it. More cold fronts, more slushy encounters? Sure, but week after week of comfortably numb? That ship has sailed. One week of numb back in January. Unbelievable.
![Team Greece's boat parades along the Seine river in Paris, France, during the opening ceremony of the 2024 Summer Olympics, Friday, July 26, 2024. (AP](https://arc.stimg.co/startribunemedia/GFUTTQG65BGEJF76IYABYF27V4.jpg?h=91&w=145&fit=crop&bg=999&crop=faces)
Paris dazzles with a rainy Olympics opening ceremony on the Seine River
Rain, rain and more rain couldn't drown out the cheers at the Paris Olympics opening ceremony
![Twin Cities meteorologist Paul Douglas is retiring from WCCO after seven years on the radio. He started working for Minnesota news stations in 1983 an](https://arc.stimg.co/startribunemedia/KIG3GIEQLRFUBKF6ABXPYJT2ZM.jpg?h=91&w=145&fit=crop&bg=999&crop=faces)