Back From Travel To NYC

We have been away on a trip to NYC since last Friday and returned last evening, Tuesday, February 28th.
We landed at La Guardia in low clouds and rain, but rest of trip was essentially weather-free other than winds and chilly temperatures. Folks in the NYC area are worried about many spring plants that have come out unusually early this year (see posts below that illustrate the unusual warmth in the Northeast). Photos above are of the famous lions - Patience and Fortitude - at the entrance to the New York Public Library.

I don't see even a hint of a sprinkle here at house, and so I assume that there was no precipitation while we were away. The coldest low temperature was 33F, and I suspect that that occurred yesterday morning. There were strong winds and a bit of dust on Monday in Tucson, and a webcam view of Catalinas (above) shows that there were some light showers around. The views from the plane were very very brown from DFW to TUS, across the drought plagued portions of the Southwest. Considerable dust was hanging in the afternoon boundary layer over southeast Arizona and New Mexico, but skies were nearly cloudless.

The current 7-day GFS (operational member - below) forecast of total precipitation for period from now through next Tuesday afternoon (March 6th) continues to keep the Southwest locked in drought. Looks like total rainfall here at the house from mid-December through February will total only 0.37 inches.