Putting February’s weather rollercoaster in context [Video]

MAINE, USA — In the past week, the #mewx (Maine Weather) hashtag on Twitter has been a particularly wide-ranging February grab-bag of that old saying, “if you don’t like the weather, wait five minutes.” Today, some climate change context for this.

Last weekend, some folks saw spring plant growth in their yards under bright, mild sunshine, and Portland notched a record high for Feb. 10, at 54 degrees Fahrenheit. The Press Herald had exemplary climate-linked coverage of people getting out in the warm day. (The previous record, set in 2023, was 52 degrees.)

On other days and in other places, it’s snowed hard — or thawed hard, or flooded, or sleeted or iced over. Wind gusts topped 50 mph in several places on a frigid Valentine’s Day, according to the National Weather Service.

Southern, Central and Western Maine are under a winter weather advisorythrough Friday …