Today is the first day of spring, and it couldn’t come soon enough this year for most people.

However, we’re not really in the clear yet.

“We don’t see any kind of significant warm up, at least through the beginning of April,” said Lee Hendricks, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Pittsburgh.

He said the 16-day forecast shows temperatures are expected to be about 6 degrees below normal. He said there is still a chance for snowfall in the coming weeks as well, but no major storms are predicted.

And for the record, some motorists reported a little bit of freezing rain this morning and a slight bit of snow.

Last year on the first day of spring, Butler had about a half-inch of snow on the ground, and closer to an inch in the Slippery Rock area.

If you thought this winter was harsher than normal, Hendricks said you are correct.

Nearly 55 inches of snow fell this winter in Butler, compared to 43.4 last winter. Hendricks said 35.8 inches is the norm, and he said there is no explainable reason why this year’s snowfall was so much higher than usual.

“There’s nothing really significant this year,” Hendricks said.

This winter, there were 18 days where more than an inch of snow fell. The average is 14.4 days. For 23 days this winter, 5 or more inches of snow was on the ground. The average is 13.6 days.

In October, November and December, the temperatures were about average. However, they took a steep dive starting in January.

“We were hovering right about normal until the new year. We’re averaging significantly below (since then),” Hendricks said.

The average temperature in January this year was 17.6 degrees, compared to a normal of 26.8. The average for February was 23 degrees, compared to a normal of 28.9. For March, the average temperature has been 28.3 degrees. Normal for the month is 36.8 degrees.

Additionally, there were 17 days in January and February where the temperature dropped below zero. Hendricks said the average is 5.3 days per winter.