Unusually warm weather puts the East Coast in early bloom (Los Angeles Times)

Meteorologists say a moderate El Niño is the climatic culprit. NEW YORK — The cherry blossoms are blooming in Brooklyn by the thousands; daffodils are budding in the Bronx; and in Central Park, toddlers have yet to see a single snowflake this winter, the first time in more than a century that the city's most celebrated sledding slopes have been snow-free so long into the season.