After the late January snowstorm dumped up to 18 inches on parts of the Highlands, Highway and Water Department staff in Beacon worked 993 hours of overtime clearing snow from roads, sidewalks and parking lots.

With a little over three weeks to go, the start of spring draws near. More signs of it are starting to be seen in the weather forecast as well. Saturday looks likely to be not just our warmest day in nearly two months,

If Northern Hemisphere snow cover keeps reaching the same general highs and lows year after year, that reinforces climate stability. If snow cover instead changes over the long term, the change nudges global climate. Snow loss amplifies warming, but it operates alongside other major drivers such as land-use changes and greenhouse gas emissions.