One month ago today, the temps took a nose dive to below zero - and stayed there. Now we've got temps in the 50s forecast; Daylight Saving Time is nine days away; Jupiter, Saturn and Mercury are hanging out in the early-morning eastern sky (and it's clear enough to see them) and even some early migrants are starting to show up. And in the woods, it's getting a little spring-y there, too.

All around us are signs of spring - kinda. Meteorological winter ends Sunday, Daylight Saving Time starts Sunday, March 14 and the vernal equinox is Saturday, March 20. But it's hard to predict what will happen in a month that's famous for blizzards and 70˚ days in the same four-week period.

Twelve days of an average temp of -12˚. 250 straight hours of temps that never got above -2˚. And while we only got two measly record temps out of the cold snap, on the 13th and 14th, Larry Weber says it was still pretty impressive. Not only does he enthuse "I wouldn't have wanted to miss it!", Larry knows that when we're sweating through an afternoon on the beach or looking for some shade to park a lawn chair, these days will be the stuff of stories and legend.

Larry Weber calls the 213 hours out of 216 we'll spend below zero "fascinating."

For Larry Weber, winter is about to arrive. Air temperatures won't break zero through the end of the weekend, overnight lows will be in the double digits below, and the windchill index will hover around that strange point where the Celsius and Fahrenheit scales reach agreement: -40. But there is a silver lining: Larry point out that these cold snaps usually only last about four days. So that's a mere 100 hours of "polar vortex." The National Weather Service is even collecting Extreme Cold

There's romance in the air if you're a wolf, coyote, fox, or squirrel. If you're a groundhog, you want to be left strictly alone on Tuesday - no exceptions. And for the rest of us who pay attention to such things, we're about halfway through that period of time between the December solstice (December 21; shortest day of the year) and the vernal equinox (March 21; day and night are of equal length).

Last week, Larry Weber told us we were in the running for the warmest January on record, surpassing the old record set back in 2006. Today ... alas. But despite the cold, we're still short on precipitation and snow, and that's already challenging this year's John Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon.

So far, January has been cloudy and warm. In fact, Larry says if we keep it up, we're on pace to break the old record for the warmest January on record set back in 2006! But the clouds mean sound is amplified. The warmish temperatures mean you can walk slooooowly and really take in what you're seeing. And Larry is encouraging folks to follow the example of Duluth's JR Kelsey and get out there and take photographs!

Maybe we're not quite at the point where we're crediting Mother Nature with actively looking out for us, but for those searching for rhyme, rime, or reason in these strange and terrifying times ... it's right outside.