We won't lie: February in Deadwood is usually pretty cold. Not Minnesota cold, but chilly enough: the average high is 37F/3C, and the average low is 15F/-9C. It's cuddle-by-the-fire-in-sweaters-with-the-cats-and-cocoa-and-books weather. 

But like most of the western United States, Deadwood's been a lot warmer than normal this month. We've had some snow showers, but we've also had sleet and rain. Several evenings went by this week with freezing overnight, and some daytime temps last week were high enough for t-shirts. The thermometer almost hit 70F/21C on Thursday. 

That inspired us to go poking around the inn's gardens, and we found a few early sprouts. There were signs of life from the lilacs and the day lilies, but the most ambitious plant seems to be the large poppy in the east garden bed. It's busted up through the mulch and seems ready to put up flower buds if things stay warm. 

And that might just work out. Things have already started to cool back down a bit, but the weather next week still looks to be about 10 degrees warmer than average. The long-term forecast is even better: the first couple weeks of March look to have daytime highs around 54F/12C and evening lows right around 35F/2C. That's great news for the crowds that surge into Deadwood for Saint Patrick's Day: 2016 could be a pretty balmy year for pub crawls.