Spring started off cold and on a stormy note.  The end of March and the first two or three days of April were beautiful. The weather channel observed a high temperature of seventy-two on April 2.

Afterwards, a brief winter pattern took hold.  Late season snow and cold took the stage. On April 4 accumulating snow fell making this past Monday a slow commute.

Professor Colby, an Atmospheric Science and lead expert in weather on Tuesday March 29, 2016. He anticipated a cold pattern the following week.

The recent cold pattern within the last few days was due to a southward plunge of the polar vortex. The polar vortex is a large pocket of extreme cold air, typically coldest in the northern hemisphere, which sits over the polar region during the winter season.

Sometimes the polar vortex can dip southward into the eastern and midwest United States when it weakens. When it is strong, the polar vortex remains stationary staying in the polar regions.

Colby favors up and down weather during the month of April as the spring season continues. With cool and warm spells accompanying some dreary days, he anticipates May to turn nice.

Later on in the spring, it can go one of two ways. It will either be dry due to the rivers being low, along with not much snow melting up north due to a snowless winter. The optimal scenario is a continuation of wet weather like we have seen this winter. Nothing too extreme, is what Colby expected, such as the driest May on record last year in Worcester. Zero inches of rain fell.