The Final Sign You Know Spring Really Has Sprung in Rochester

The calendar says it's been spring for over a month now and while we've had some warm, spring-like days, there's always the threat Mother Nature could throw another freak snow storm at us. But there's one final sign that says it really IS spring here in Rochester.

Even though this week has been filled with cold, rainy and not very spring-like weather, there are several signs that spring has sprung around southeast Minnesota-- the tulips are blooming, lawns are being mowed for the first time, and snow blowers and snow shovels are being put away.  (Heck, I just rearranged our garage to bring out the lawn mower and put away the snow blower last weekend. It was tempting fate, I know, but our lawn definitely needed to be mowed.)

But there is one telltale sign, perhaps above all others, that shows the warm weather season is here to stay this year here in the Med City. And, if your travels Wednesday happened to take you near the fountain on the Peace Plaza, just in front of the Chateau Theatre, you might have noticed the same thing that Stephen Lehmkhule, Chancellor of the University of Minnesota - Rochester, did: the fountain was filled with water, and for the first time, turned on! The UMR Chancellor tweeted a picture of this sure sign that the wam-weather season has officially arrived...