Get the shorts, T-shirts ready

The real start of spring is three days away -- at least here in the Charlotte region.

The atmospheric blocking pattern that made last month one of the coldest March's in several years is losing its punch. The repeated surges of cold air into the Carolinas are on death watch.

The weekend will mark a change to much more enjoyable conditions, and it's possible the nicer weather could continue largely unabated into summer.

It will be almost like flicking a switch on the seasons.

Before we get to that point, there's the little issue of Thursday and Friday.

Throughout the winter, snow-lovers waited for a storm system to move along the Gulf Coast and then up the East Coast.  That would be the recipe for a Carolinas snowstorm, but it never happened.  Now, in the first week of April, with temperatures too warm for snow, such a coast-hugging storm is coming.

If this were January, we'd be buying bread and milk, preparing for a blizzard.  Instead, the system will bring rain and very chilly temperatures Thursday, and the rain will last into Friday morning.

By Saturday, partial clearing will take place, and temperatures are expected to climb into the middle 60s. Many of us will see 70 degrees Sunday, and that will launch a series of days with high temperatures in the upper 60s, the 70s, and possibly even the low 80s.

NOAA's 6-10 day outlook for the Charlotte region calls for above-average temperatures.  So does the 8-14 day outlook ... and the one-month forecast ... and the three-month forecast.

That means it's time to check on the whereabouts of your shorts and T-shirts.

For those of you with relatives up North, this will be an April in which you'll be able to rub it in a bit.  The warming trend will be largely south of the Mason-Dixon line, and although milder weather will surge into the Great Lakes and Northeast at times, there also will be relapses of cold and wet conditions.

So if you want to call a relative on some sunny 75-degree day this month and laugh about their 45 degrees and rain in New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio or Michigan, you'll have a chance.

The other issue is severe weather.

With the cold March temperatures, severe thunderstorms and tornadoes were mostly a non-issue in the South.  The severe weather season is getting off to a late start.  Forecasts I've seen from a number of meteorologists indicate the severe storms will focus on the Mid-South (along both sides of the Mississippi) in April, then spread into eastern Kentucky, eastern Tennessee, the Carolinas and Virginia in May.