PITTSBURGH -- An Ohio prosecutor who light-heartedly filed a criminal indictment against the famous Pennsylvania groundhog who fraudulently "predicted" an early spring said he may consider a pardon now that the animal's handler is taking the blame. Bill Deeley, president of the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club's Inner Circle, told The Associated Press on Monday that the animal rightly predicted six more weeks of winter last month, but he mistakenly announced an early spring because he failed to correctly interpret Phil's "groundhog-ese."...

The Jefferson Memorial is seen under cherry blossoms on March 23, 2012 at the Tidal Basin in Washington, DC. (MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images) WASHINGTON -- The spring snow is not expected to affect Washington's famous cherry blossoms. National Park Service spokeswoman Carol Johnson says Monday's snow should not affect the predicted peak bloom dates for the flowering trees. The cherry blossoms are still expected to reach peak bloom between April 3 and April 6. (WATCH: See What Could Spoil Your Spring)...

United States: Warmer Winters Climate change is making the world, on average, a warmer place. The United States is no exception. The graph above shows average temperature data for the last 117 meteorological winters (December through February, 1895-96 to 2011-2012) for the contiguous 48 states, taken directly from the National Climatic Data Center, an arm of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The red line is the long-term trend line; while it doesn't capture smaller-scale trends, it shows that overall...

Time to End the Debate (AP Photo/Winslow Townson) It's a known fact -- everybody thinks their town is the best in the country at dealing with snow. We hear the trash talk on our social media sites. It's always something like, "They got 6 inches of snow and everything shut down? That's nothing to us ... we still go to work when there's 2 feet on the ground!" However, this winter has humbled a few towns that used to think...

April Snow...Par For the Course? With a snowstorm in the Rockies and northern Plains ahead, you may wonder, "How unusual is snow in April?" (MORE: ) Of course, in the highest peaks of the Cascades, Rockies, and Sierra, heavy, wet snow deep into spring is par for the course. However, wet snow can make a mess of any day in spring in lower elevations, as well. In some locations, May snow is average! Average monthly snowfall in Denver, Colo. (Data...

Rapid City, S.D. Snow and wind create poor visibility on Tuesday, April 9, 2013, as a man walks along a street in Rapid City, S.D. (AP Photo/Rapid City Journal, Chris Huber) Attacking the Plains in the spring, Winter Storm Walda might be a system in the wrong season. However, its seasonal confusion hasn't weakened the storm, as forecasts are calling for as much as two feet of snow (and possibly more) to fall in some areas. Above is our collection...

With the worst of Winter Storm Walda finally subsiding, several states are left waiting for temperatures to warm up and the snow melt to begin. The storm has broken records as it slammed the Rockies, Plains and Midwest, dumping more than two feet of snow in some parts while spawning tornadoes in warmer states. In all, three deaths have been reported from the cumulative effects of the storm. (MORE: Is April Snow Unusual?) Snow accumulates on a stop sign along...

Even Temperature Contrasts are Bigger in Texas! While snowstorms in April are not uncommon, Winter Storm Walda has certainly produced its share of odd weather. An incredible temperature contrast across the state of Texas on April 9, 2013. (FORECAST: Tracking Winter Storm Walda) The driving distance from Dalhart, Texas, in the northern Texas Panhandle, to Laredo, along the Rio Grande River, is roughly 750 miles, or just over 11 hours. That said, an incredible temperature contrast set up on April...

Dalton, Minn. A car is almost completely covered up by snowfall from Winter Storm Xerxes on Monday, April 15, 2013. (Facebook/Debbir Kaminski) Winter Storm Xerxes blanketed the Dakotas and Minnesota with snow, freezing rain, and blizzard conditions, knocking out power and closing interstates on Sunday and Monday. "This latest winter storm can only be compounding the misery for folks in the region," says weather.com meteorologist Nick Wiltgen. "Fargo has yet to reach 50 degrees this year, and we don't expect...

Selected snowfall totals from Winter Storm Xerxes. Winter Storm Xerxes (pronounced ZERK-sees) was the 24th named storm in The Weather Channel's alphabetical list of winter storms for 2012-13. (MORE: ) Xerxes was named on April 13. In this case, "X" marked the Northern Plains, particularly North Dakota where the lion's share of the heavy snow fell. At one point, Interstate 94 was closed from the North Dakota/Montana border all the way east to Fargo, N.D. Record-breaking snowfall occurred in central...

Dalton, Minn. A car is almost completely covered up by snowfall from Winter Storm Xerxes on Monday, April 15, 2013. (Facebook/Debbir Kaminski) Winter Storm Xerxes was yet another late-season pain for the Northern Plains, dumping more unneeded snow on the Dakotas and elsewhere. Roads were forced to close for the second time in two weeks, and travel was crippled in some areas. Above are a collection of photos from the storm, and as you can see, Xerxes brought more than...

Boulder, Colo. Elementary school students are dropped off at class as Winter Storm Zeus dropped snow over Boulder, Colo., Tuesday April 23, 2013. The Colorado Avalanche Information Center says avalanche danger there is considerable. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley) Winter Storm Zeus delivered even more snow to parts of the Rockies, Plains, and Upper Midwest on April 22-23, 2013, and was promptly followed by record cold temperatures. The additional snowfall, coming on the heels of Winter Storms Walda, Xerxes and Yogi earlier...

Winter Storms 2012-2013 The Winter Weather Summary is issued daily during the winter season to discuss the large scale weather pattern across the U.S. as well as the timing and location of specific winter impacts. Outside of the winter season the product will be issued on an "as needed" basis. In an effort to increase awareness and enhance communication of disruptive, impactful winter storms, The Weather Channel named winter storms starting in the 2012-2013 season. The list of names used...