Ilsa Minor | Daily Press The Escanaba River north of the Dam 3 Boat Launch on County Road 420 began to open last week. As the river thawed, chunks of ice dislodged and began moving downstream, sometimes building up in piles before the pressure could carve a new path in the river’s still-frozen portions. It’s another sign of spring in the U.P.

IRON MOUNTAIN — April is in no hurry to usher in spring, but the long-range forecast suggests a much warmer turn as summer draws closer.

“The April-May-June temperature outlook favors above-normal seasonal mean temperatures for most of the contiguous U.S.,” said National Weather Service forecaster Jon Gottschalck.

The Climate Prediction Center is neutral on the Upper Peninsula outlook for April, but chances for above-average temperatures through June are in the range of 40%, with just a 25% chance of below-normal.

June could signal the start of a more sweltering pattern, said Weather Channel meteorologist Danielle Banks.

“Much of the U.S. is expected to have hotter than average conditions heading into the first month of summer,” Banks said. “Areas from the Midwest to the Central Plains and Rockies could have temperatures that are hottest relative to average.”

Highs are expected to range above 50 degrees early this week before retreating again.

A warm spell at mid-month was short-lived, giving way to a nasty ice storm that caused tens of thousands of power outages across the region March 23.

The CPC’s outlook suggests an elevated chance of above-normal rainfall over the next three months, mostly in the eastern half of the Upper Peninsula.

La Nina conditions are expected to continue into summer, with about a 50% chance of neutral or La Nina conditions going into fall, CPC forecasters say. La Nina, the flip side of El Nino, is the periodic cooling of the central Pacific Ocean that affects weather patterns around the globe.

La Nina has gone on for two winters now. It’s rare but not unprecedented for conditions to persist for a third, according to the CPC.

The U.S. Drought Monitor shows abnormally dry conditions across the northern tier of Wisconsin and bordering Upper Peninsula counties.