ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) — If you’ve been here any length of time, you’ll know that this winter season —at least for Rochester— hasn’t been normal. This past week we’ve broken high-temperature records, and the snowfall here hasn’t been enough to keep the snowmen coming.

“It is definitely a different winter,” said Karen St. Aubin with the Department of Environmental Services.

St. Aubin said there’s been a lot of activity, just not the white stuff we’re typically accustomed to. “(There’s been) plenty of precipitation, just not so much in the form of snow.”

She said it’s caused trees and bushes to do a double-take. “There are some trees that are beginning to bloom, some shrubs that are beginning to bloom, they’re definitely confused.”

St. Aubin said south of us, some of the famous cherry blossoms in Washinton, D.C. are already out. At home, the milder weather and less snowfall have allowed her team to focus on some other things, like early spring cleaning. 

“So we’ve been working on all the underpasses, working on the litter. Some of the sidewalks get —after plowing— they get some grime,” she said.

And oh, the cracks, craters, and cuts in our roads! St. Aubin says this winter has also allowed them to start filling in potholes. 

“We have routes that we work on. We pro-actively work and do potholes every day,” she said (If you see one, St. Aubin says to call 311, and in two business days, they should have it patched up).

But, despite the warmer days, St. Aubin says let’s not put this season ‘on ice’ just yet. “It is still winter. It is still February.”

It is worth pointing out, our neighbors in Buffalo have had roughly 116″ of snowfall this season, while Rochester has had about 21.5″ (Chief Meteorologist Eric Snitil wrote a story on the snowfall discrepancies back in December, to view click here).