Though today is the last day of spring break for kids in school, it is actually the first day of spring.

Spring officially begins at 6:44 a.m. when the vernal equinox occurs, and the weather couldn’t be much better.

High temperatures are predicted to be in the upper 60s today with clear to mostly clear skies and lows in the 40s. The National Weather Service is predicting this pattern to continue for much of the next week.

The next chance of rain is expected to be toward the middle of next week, but weather service meteorologist Jim Westland said that forecast is still uncertain, about as indeterminate as the climate forecast for the next three months.

According to the Climate Prediction Center, there is no certainty of whether temperatures and precipitation will be near normal. The only place in the U.S. that has any certainty is the western U.S.

“Over a three-month period, it is difficult to determine just what the temperatures and precipitation will do. There has to be a pattern in place that will control that,” Westland said.

Spring is typically one of Alabama’s stormiest times of the year. Though the weather has been ideal over the last few days, Westland didn’t want people to let their guards down.

“Don’t get lulled to sleep because we’re having several days of good weather in a row,” he said. “You need to check the weather forecast every day. It doesn’t take long for a severe weather system to form.”