I was awoken this morning by my WeatherOps app alerting me to a variety of weather that is expected this week. Just one look and I knew that spring was on the way. Yes, you can look at a calendar and know spring is coming, but you can also view the forecast to realize that it's just over the horizon.

I shut my alarm off this morning only to hear another alert coming from my phone. Selecting my WeatherOps app, I was greeted by two different weather outlooks for my home. One was for severe weather, and the other was for significant ice accumulation. It was already 65F outside, and it was barely 8am. 

Temperatures in the US usually have quite the range at this time of year. Today, while residents of Montana deal with negative double digits, Floridians woke up to the mid to upper 80s. That's a nearly 100-degree difference from our northern to southern border. 

Narrowing this analysis to Oklahoma, using our state Mesonet system, we have nearly a 50-degree difference in our state alone. I'm pretty sure those in the Panhandle are wishing they lived close to the Red River right now.

So, what does all this mean? Looking at the WeatherOps hazards map, we see everything from winter weather outlooks and hazardous winter weather warnings to a severe weather outlook and fog advisory. Some of these hazards even overlap. Yes, spring is on the way, and as it is with our weather systems, the planet is trying to come to equilibrium. Unfortunately, that will never happen, and so instead we end up with a mix of snow, ice, and severe thunderstorms. And all of this is expected to occur between now and Wednesday.

Most of us in the Plains know that when you wake up in mid-February and the temperature is in the 60s, Mother Nature is about to play a trick on you. The cold will come, and possibly some wintry precipitation too. To stay better informed, try out WeatherOps today and see how it can help alert you of hazardous weather.