Consider this: we've had one uncomfortably cold week so far this winter. I've paused work on my manuscript for "Little House on the Rapidly Thawing Prairie" to address the lukewarm elephant in the living room.

Will every winter going forward be like this? Of course not. But winter is the fastest warming season across the U.S. New research shows that (natural) El Nino cycles in the Pacific are becoming more frequent and extreme due to man-made climate change. Before the 1970s changes in solar output triggered El Nino. Now fossil fuels and CO2 are driving Super El Ninos, and this winter is Exhibit A, according to a study from University of Innsbruck.

After 60s in western Minnesota yesterday, on the last day of January, we "cool off" into the 40s today into Monday, but ECMWF shows a few days at or above 50F again next week. Two straight weeks of 40s and 50s in late January and early February is not "normal."

Rain next Thursday may end as a little slush by Friday, February 9. You remember slush, right?