After only three days above zero in Portage la Prairie according to Environment and Climate Change Canada, you are probably ready for spring. However, according to Senior Climatologist David Phillips, we will have to wait a little while longer.

Looking ahead at the next few months, expect below-normal or near-normal temperatures.

"There's been no kind of surge of warm southerly air that has warmed things up and gave people a hope that spring has arrived or is just around the corner," says Phillips. "So, I think you're going to have to continue to be patient. I look at the next seven days, they say April's the cruel month, but I can't think it could be any crueller than when March was. But, we do see temperatures of 1 degree, 4 degrees. I mean, normals in Portage la Prairie, for example, this time of the year, should be highs of five degrees and lows of minus 7."

Instead, we've been experiencing highs below zero, and lows in the minus double-digits. Phillips says we're not alone in being frustrated about these cold temperatures, as our friends to the west -- and to the east -- are in a similar situation.

"We seem to be stuck into this cold northerly air, this Arctic air, that is coming down across most of Canada," says Phillips. "I mean, it's not as if somebody is holding all of the warm spring weather and denying it to other people. We're into the same situation. If misery enjoys company, then all Canadians are wondering the same thing. Where is spring? I'm sure farmers are kind of concerned."

Although Phillips says this spring will feel more like a wintery spring than a summer spring, he notes we could see above-normal temperatures for July and August once summer hits.