That's March for you. Temperatures have been climbing daily this week, headed for a pleasant weekend in the upper 60s and low 70s. What's left of the snow and ice is surely doomed. But the folks out in Sterling still couldn't resist reminding us that winter has not yet left the continent. More on that in a minute.

First the good news. That big ol' high-pressure system has moved off to the east, but it continues to pump warm, moist air up from the Southwest. That puts us in the path of a warm front that will pass through the region today, driving temperatures noticeably higher. We should be looking at a high this afternoon around 60 degrees. The clouds that moved in this morning are a signal of that warmer, wetter air mass. But they should break a bit this afternoon after the front gets by, warming things even more.

Forecasters think the cold front that would normally follow the warm front will stall to our north, leaving us to enjoy a southwesterly flow and continued warm weather on Saturday and Sunday, with highs near 70 Saturday and perhaps in the mid-70s Sunday.

By late Sunday, however, the front is expected to get moving again, dropping across the region with some showers. Next week looks like it will be cooler than the weekend, but still mild for this time of year, with showers forecast for Tuesday and Wednesday.

But then another cold front clears the slate. We'll return to more seasonable temperatures, and computer models foresee a new Great Plains storm racing across the southern U.S. and intensifying off the southeast coast. Says Sterling:

"If the former verifies ... another round of snow will be possible over portions of the forecast area late next week."

You knew it was too good to last.