Meteorologist Jeff Ranieri

What a beautiful weekend! I must admit I tend to overuse the "!" but the prior sentence really deserves the "!" in all of its glory.

The weather was like a gift from somewhere strange as we have seen such a remarkable flip in the weather over the past seven days. We went from a historically wet Nor'easter one week ago in the Northeast to record highs today. I almost felt like the spring ambassador of weather on Saturday and Sunday by vowing to do just about anything outside.

I spent the weekend in 70's & 80's reading a new book outside, going for a long run and most importantly I did my spring planting. I refreshed my flower boxes with fresh soil and fertilizer and went to town on my "Juliet" (a fancy name for a fire escape in NYC) and what a difference a few blooms can make. Planting even a few flowers is truly a great way to capture spring even in a city space. I went for Gerber Daisies, Impatients, and Begonias in wide variety of colors. I ended up closing down the weekend on a relaxing note with the windows open and a nice mild breeze.

I must say while this weekend was great my Monday morning actually came in on top.

After my Spring weekend I feel like it really dawned on me this morning how much the change of season can lift the spirit in all ways. It's 7:30 am on Monday and the alarm clock goes off and I find incredible resolve to stray away from the snooze button...

My enthusiasm came from what seemed to be an extra strong filter of sunshine flooding into my bedroom. I resisted the automatic reflex of my thumb hitting snooze and I popped up out of bed and was blinded by the light!

What a great feeling it is to wake up with sunshine after the cold and wet month of April in the Northeast. While the sun was incredible to wake up with I was greeted by an even stronger sign of spring, flowers! Even though I planted them myself I was almost surprised by the vibrant colors this morning as they brought a new beauty in the morning light. Waking up with the sun, flowers and fresh air was enough to put a Spring smile on my face. I grabbed the watering can and gave my new flowers food for the day in hopes they will last as long as last season's plants. Once they were fed I went on to feed myself with a little coffee and cereal. I'll get some pics of the flowers on here shortly. Standby.

My tips to getting an extra spring in your step:

• Find some spring temperatures
  
• Get Outside
  
• Do some spring planting
  
• Don’t forget to water the plants! *-)
  
• Take it all in and enjoy the day
  

Jeff Ranieri - Meteorologist