It feels like spring right now around here but we're a long way away from April or May flowers.

In fact you might need a little sunscreen Thursday when sunshine could bring us near the 90-degree mark.

But it's still not time to put away your winter clothes just yet.

News 3 spoke with the State Climatologist and Texas A&M Meteorologist to find out why this winter has been so warm as a whole.

It's playtime for Chelsea Kempton and her 2-year-old son Colton at College Station's Wolf Pen Creek Park.

"Me and my husband we're just talking about it the other day how mild it's been and we're loving it. We're definitely outdoor people," said Kempton, of College Station.

Mother Nature seems a little confused, with weeds growing fast after recent rains and roses in bloom under warming sunny skies.

Texas A&M Student Brooke Massengale even thought about hitting the pool this week.

"I almost went swimming I was kind of debating whether the pool was too cold still but the weather is so nice you might as well soak it up while you can," she said.

If the trend continues this will go down as the second warmest winter ever on record in the United States and here in the Brazos Valley forecasters are expecting a high in the upper 80's on Thursday.

"It's not the ocean that's doing it really it's the atmosphere it tends to get locked into a pattern..." said State Climatologist John Nielsen-Gammon, PhD.

Nielsen-Gammon is also a professor for Texas A&M's Department of Atmospheric Sciences.

He says the current pattern is thanks to something called the Arctic Oscillation which moves the jet stream north and south.

"This year it's kind of warm across most of North America except for Alaska which has had some really cold weather. Conversely in Europe and Asia it's been a cold winter," he said.

Chelsea Kempton says if this weather continues it will be time for sunscreen.

In February.

"Definitely for the fair skinned people for sure that would be myself and my son so yeah, make sure to cake it on so, ha ha ha," said Kempton.

If you think it's too warm outside now just wait a bit, another cold front is expected to come late Thursday night.

Last month was the fourth warmest January ever for the nation.

Here locally we're expected to see more seasonal temperatures with this coming cold front.