WINTER HASN'T GIVEN UP JUST YET

Old Man Winter isn't giving up on the region.

Winter weather, with cold rain and scattered snow showers, greeted people on their way to work Monday morning.

The brief snow, which quickly turned to sleet and then rain, was caused because temperatures were above freezing and the air dry. Once the rain began, the air temperature cooled and could support snow, said Jeff Hovis, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Paducah, Ky.

More rains are expected today, with temperatures reaching into the mid 50s. By week's end, the rain will end, but temperatures will drop back into the 30s.

Al Robertson, a local weather expert, said the temperatures aren't unusual for this time of year. "We've had a mild winter so you've got to expect some of this."

Temperatures for the month are about three degrees below normal, Robertson said. And rains, which have a cooling factor, help to keep the temperatures relatively cool.

Weather systems currently moving across the nation allow just enough cold air to remain so that snow and sleet are still possible, said Hovis,

"It is rather strange that all winter we were not set up in a winter-type flow, and just before spring we are."

Spring officially begins March 20 by the calendar, but warm temperatures and ground hog predictions had people hoping for an early spring.

Mother Nature isn't cooperating.

"It can still snow pretty good," Hovis said. "Some of the best snows I've seen have been in March."

Hovis, a relative newcomer to the Paducah area, said there really isn't any reason for the weather fluctuations, other than it is weather and subject to changes.

People like to seek a reason for changing weather patterns, and El Nino and La Nina took the brunt of the criticism. "These features influence weather but don't produce weather. It might influence the patterns that make the weather."