Sick of the cold? Hang on, the warmth will be coming by April,
according to the spring forecast released Thursday by the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. "We have been
experiencing an unusually cold pattern," admits meteorologist Ed
O'Lenic of the Climate Prediction Center. How cold? So far this
month, for example, Chicago's temperatures are running about 5
degrees below average, according to the National Weather
Service. This is a wild swing in the weather from last March,
when the Windy City had temperatures that were more than 15
degrees above average. The cold pattern should stay in place
until the end of March, according to an online forecast from the
climate center. But from April through June, "odds favor above-
average temperatures across much of the continental United
States, including drought-stricken areas of Texas, the Southwest
and the Great Plains," says Laura Furgione, deputy director of
the National Weather Service. Unfortunately, spring promises
little drought relief for most o