The ups and downs of the onset of spring

At long last spring. The temperature soared to 16.6C this afternoon - T-shirt weather almost - and then fell back to 12.8C as the first storm cloud of the season made its presence felt over Warsaw and heavy rain poured down on our wet fields. Below: dark clouds gather; across town it's raining already; thunder is rumbling incessantly - unusual weather for mid-April.

Watching and waiting for spring to gather strength is like watching over a sickly infant and willing it to get healthier; spring has been late coming this winter, and jokes like 'it'll soon be warm enough to walk in flip-flops over the snow' have rung true!

Vestigial snow in the garden, the last we'll see until late autumn, I hope. It's five and half months since the first snow of this (long) winter fell (27 October 2012); is is indeed possible for Warsaw 'to have snow for half the year'. Possible, but  unlikely. This winter was longer and snowier than usual, though not a particularly cold one. I'm waiting for Student SGH to post his annual winter almanac on Politics, Economy, Society - (see winter timelines for last winter and the winter before that.)

UPDATE: Student SGH has just posted his detailed day-by-day account of this long and strange winter, invaluable documentation in an age where weather takes on a political dimension - this is how it was in 2012-2013 in Warsaw.

This time last year:
Pigeon infestation by Dworzec Centralny

This time three years ago:
Fertile grounds for conspiracy theorists

This time five years ago:
Magnolia in bloom, Ealing