There have been years in which spring has seemed to arrive in North Texas by this time in February, when flowering trees were already in bloom.

This is not one of those years.

"We've been struggling to get out of the 40s so far this month, and we're going to struggle to make 40 degrees each day of this week," said Jessica Schultz, meteorologist at the national Weather Service's Fort Worth office.

Moreover, we're in for another round of rain and cold weather – though not usually at the same time.

The bad news – we may see sleet or snow on Thursday.

The good news – precipitation should clear out in time for the NBA All-Star weekend.

Virtually all events leading up to Sunday's game at Cowboys Stadium will be indoors, but the drive getting there should be dry, and temperatures should be only slightly below normal.

Until then, expect a rainy day for much of today, with rain clearing out this afternoon, just before a cold front settles in over the region. There should be a few nights of below freezing temperatures before the slight warm-up this weekend.

But spring, sadly, may not be just around the corner.

The National Climate Prediction Center's latest long-range forecast foresees another six weeks of below normal temperatures and above-normal precipitation for North Texas.

The reason, as every close follower of the weather knows, is El Niño, the periodic warming of Pacific waters that produces chilly, wet winters in this part of the world.

"When we're in an El Niño cycle, we're seeing a storm system across the area every couple of days," Schultz said. "That's what we've been seeing the past few weeks."

According to weather service records, January was wetter than normal but recorded seasonable temperatures.

February so far has been cooler than normal, with precipitation about average.