March in Seattle usually means temperatures in the mid-50s, but Seattleites awoke this morning to iced puddles and frosted cars. It seems like a lot of the winter has been like that, so we checked in with UW weather expert Cliff Mass to see just how anomalous things have been.”This has been an unusual winter in a lot of ways,” he says, citing “extraordinary, long periods of dry conditions, relatively cold conditions.” High pressure has kept the warm, mild storms out, explains Mass, except for a Pineapple Express in November and another big rain in January. Instead, we’ve had a typical La Nina year–clear and cold–only “more extreme.” But, “it’s not any kind of all-time record.”And how, we’d be remiss without asking, will future winters look as global warming kicks in? Mass says there are a lot of misunderstandings on how the phenomenon will affect our region.We won’t see the floods that some have predicted, contends Mass. “Our best estimates based on computer models show that precipitation will remain the same,” both in total amount and distribution over the year. Of course, snowpack will reduce as temperatures rise, so we’ll be challenged to collect that water elsewise. “We’re actually in a very favorable location when it comes to global warming,” he says. While we’ll see some increase in temperatures, because we’re downstream from the Eastern part of the Pacific (oceans warm more on their Western than their Eastern ends), “warming will be slower and weaker here than almost any place in North America.” Still, there will be changes. In the second half of the century, temperatures will rise, particularly the nighttime lows in winter. But in a counterintuitive twist, late springs and early summers may actually be cooler–at least in the Western part of the state. “As the interior of the continent warms up,” he explains, “that air becomes less dense.” Thus there is less resistance to the cool, marine air off the coast, so we may be seeing more cool, foggy June days.Mass says those looking to learn more should check out his book, The Weather of the Pacific Northwest. He also has a blog. Finally, weather professionals, amateur stormtrackers, and aspiring John-John Mackays may want to check out this conference next weekend.