REGION — After a brutally cold winter that left a lot of snow on the ground, the snow is finally mostly melted and has filled the rivers and started to replenish the reservoirs. The melt has given way to bare earth. In a growing number of spots that earth is yielding tentative batches of crocuses and daffodils. The examples shown hear poked through the soil in front of a residence on Main Street in Jeffersonville.

The National Weather Service (NWS) said that, unlike the temperatures over most of the planet, the temperatures in the Northeast United States were well below normal this year. But the NWS says there’s a good chance that pattern is changing. The service predicts that after April ends, temperatures in the Northeast, including the Upper Delaware Valley are likely to be above average in most months through next winter, while precipitation is likely to be near normal through the same time period.