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The pear trees are already blooming in Celeste Cantú’s garden. She usually sees the blossoms appear in late February, but this winter’s extreme warmth triggered the bloom a full month early. As the thermometer hit 80 degrees in her garden, she snapped a photo of the blossoms and posted it on Facebook with the question: “Do you think the three weeks of winter are over in So Ca?” A winter heat wave has settled over the Southwest and is bringing record-high temperatures to parts of Southern California, along with dry, gusty winds that have prompted warnings of fire danger.

Yosemite’s Half Dome saw a picturesque dusting of snow this past week while skiers in Tahoe welcomed a shot of fresh powder. Yet California’s Sierra Nevada is plunging deeper into a warm, dry winter that shows little sign of a turnaround. Mile-high mountainsides were low on snow Monday and alpine skies remained a stubborn summer blue. The forecast called for above-average temperatures and virtually no precipitation through at least the first 10 days of February — the third and final month of the state’s peak wet season.

During his second governorship, Jerry Brown has frequently touted big public-works projects as the mark of a great society—a marked change from his first stint four decades ago, when “small is beautiful” and “lower your expectations” were his oft-voiced themes. He did it again last week, effusively plugging two major public works, twin water tunnels and a high-speed rail network, during his final State of the State address.