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Visitors outside the White House, some in shorts, others in light jackets, enjoy a mild winter day on Feb. 20, 2016.(Photo: Susan Miller, USA TODAY)
WASHINGTON –<span style="color: Red;">*</span>What blizzard?
Four weeks to the day after a whopping winter storm dumped 20 to 30 inches of snow in the nation’s capital – and four days after frozen rain<span style="color: Red;">*</span>glazed roads like glass – Saturday was all<span style="color: Red;">*</span>springtime smiles<span style="color: Red;">*</span>as the thermometer inched toward an expected 60 or higher.
"We are going to be taking our layers off," said Annie Winkler en route to the Vietnam Memorial<span style="color: Red;">*</span>with daughters Lily, 8, and Jane, 5, to honor a proud grandpa.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>The family, in town from upstate New York for three days, drove through "horrendous" weather in Raleigh, N.C., earlier in the week on a trip to<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Greenville, S.C. "There<span style="color: Red;">*</span>were like 10 accidents on 95," Lily said.
Cousins Michelle Skaggs and Angela Bell of Battlecreek, Mich., stood on the sidewalk across from the White House and drank in the day. "It was a very mild winter" in Michigan, Skaggs said. "We got 10-12 inches in November and only 1<span style="color: Red;">*</span>or 2 inches" since. They were grateful for the pleasant weather<span style="color: Red;">*</span>on their weekend visit to D.C. "I hate being inside," Skaggs said.
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Washington wasn't the only city taking a walk on the mild side. On Saturday, afternoon temperatures 15 to 20 degrees above normal were expected for most of the Mid-Atlantic, as well as the Central Plains to the Ohio Valley. It was all thanks to a jet stream that slid farther north over much of the central and eastern U.S., allowing warmth from the West to surge across the Plains and the East, according to the National Weather Service.
Even before the weekend,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>the warmth made a mark.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Dozens of daily records were shattered in the Plains on Thursday, weather.com reported. On Friday, record highs were set at Lubbock, Texas, at 85;<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Tulsa at 78; St. Louis at 77;<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Springfield, Mo., at 72;<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Flint, Mich. at 61; Bismarck, N.D.,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>at 60; the service said.
In the East, it has been a topsy-turvy winter<span style="color: Red;">*</span>to say the least.
In December in Washington, confused Cherry Blossom<span style="color: Red;">*</span>buds emerged<span style="color: Red;">*</span>and<span style="color: Red;">*</span>tulip stalks poked their heads through the ground. New York’s Central Park failed to go below the freezing mark for the entire month. On Christmas Day, frozen yogurt ruled over fireplaces as dozens of records were broken with toasty temperatures from Florida to Maine.
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Then came January and payback when a series of arctic blasts stormed in. On the morning of Jan. 19, wind chills plunged below zero in Washington, Cincinnati and Boston.
And on the weekend of Jan. 23-24, a mega blizzard with 60 million people in its path eclipsed<span style="color: Red;">*</span>snowfall records, shut down travel and left 250,000 people without power.
Spring fever definitely seemed to be in the air midmorning Saturday as pasty-legged joggers pounded pavement on<span style="color: Red;">*</span>city streets<span style="color: Red;">*</span>and tourists hopped Segways and bikes in T-shirts and light jackets.
Then there was Joel Chen, a native Washingtonian, on a run by the White House in shorts and T-shirt with 9-year-old<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Katie, a schnauzer-poodle-everything mix.
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"I can't wait for winter to come back," Chen said.<span style="color: Red;">*</span> "I love snow. Our snow isn't big enough."
Ummm<span style="color: Red;">*</span>– what about those 30 inches four weeks ago? He smiled. "I just want it more frequently."
With four weeks of winter left and a possible "wintry mix" on the horizon midweek next week, Chen may get his wish. But on Saturday at least, the<span style="color: Red;">*</span>spring preview seemed a breath of fresh air.
Follow Miller on Twitter @susmiller
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