Early Spring in the Heartland?

Any of you that might live in Kansas/Nebraska/Missouri/Illinois, is spring arriving early this year? If so, by how many weeks would you say?
Thanks in advance.

Although I spend Jan/Feb/March in Tucson, I am from Topeka, Kansas and monitor the weather there on a daily basis. Topekans really didn't have winter this year. Many days the high temps were in the 60s and 70s, higher than Tucson. Snowfall was a measly 5 inches since the start of winter.

I would suspect those that are there now would say that Spring is "Just around the corner"--maybe two weeks or so. Some flowers are already starting to bloom.

I would be interested to see what others from Kansas say. Their perspective may differ from mine.

Mark

I spend half of my time in northeast Illinois and--after a couple of nasty cold snaps in the first half of December--it's been a very, very warm winter. There hasn't been a meaningful snowfall in the Chicago area since December 18 (which is unprecedented). A cold snap could always change things, but as of right now I'd guess that the spring bloom will be at least 2-3 weeks ahead of its normal onset.

Thanks! I am doing a three week songbird migration photo road trip through those states late April early May and wanted to double check on some of the destinations as it relates to what you two confirmed....it has been warmer than normal and likely an an earlier spring.

mortsgah wrote:Thanks! I am doing a three week songbird migration photo road trip through those states late April early May and wanted to double check on some of the destinations as it relates to what you two confirmed....it has been warmer than normal and likely an an earlier spring.

The high in Topeka today is approaching 80 degrees. That's insane for the first part of March. Winds, however, are gusting to 50MPH and there is a tornado watch in effect until 10:00 a.m.

Yep, that's Springtime in Kansas all right.

Mark

Remember how I said "a cold snap could always change things"? Well, one's coming, at least in northeast Illinois. The overnight (Thurs/Fri) low is projected to be around 20 degrees. The high on Friday and Saturday isn't supposed to reach freezing with lows in the mid-teens and forecast highs right through the middle of next week are to range from the low to mid 30s with lows from the upper teens to mid 20s. There's a good chance for a few inches of snow on Monday and or Tuesday (which would be the first measurable snowfall here in three months).

Bottom line, this is obviously going to put a break on things. Exactly how much remains to be seen, of course.

Well now the trip is a bit up in the air. The RV company I had planned on using (Cruise America) seems to be getting pretty mixed reviews (a lot pretty negative ones) and I am not having a lot of luck finding a small 19-22 foot RV (either a class C or a high top van camper) to rent that allows pets (I have a dog). I was planning on picking it up in either Salt Lake or Denver. So now to try and find an RV rental company that is Dog friendly.