First Alert Weather In-Depth: Season of Contradictions for WNY

ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WHEC) — On the one hand, we are talking about spring, on the other hand, we are talking about winter. This is certainly evident if you look at the temperature over the past two weeks in Rochester.

The mercury has been up and down over the last 14 days. There has been plenty of cold weather and there has been plenty of mild weather. The question is, where do we go from here?

As it stands right now, the weather pattern is nice and mild. And that mild weather is currently located across the eastern half of the country. But that pattern is going to flip once again and that colder air will be coming in for this weekend.

You may be wondering, "Can I still can get out in the garden and start to get the plants going?" My recommendation is to hold off in terms of doing any planting. The expected low temperature this weekend will drop into the lower 30s. As a result, there is a real possibility of a frost or a freeze once again. And even if you look from the standpoint of climate, the typical last day of a freeze in Western New York is usually the last week of April, maybe the first week of May. And an interesting note is that the climatological last day of a frost in the Southern Tier, in those colder valleys of New State, is Memorial Day Weekend!

If you look at the other side, we are now getting pollen reports. Tree pollen is at moderate levels at this point. So it is safe to say, we are right in the middle of the season of contradictions here in Western New York.