Winter is still hanging on in China, Alaska, Scotland, Japan, Western Canada and the northwestern U.S.

While thousands of cities east of the Rockies to the Atlantic Coastline saw their warmest March temperatures in recorded history, it was a vastly different weather scenario west of the Conti-nental Divide northward into Alaska and westward all the way into China, one wide meteorological 'extreme' to the other, no middle ground in temperatures.

In China's southwest Sichuan province, as of early April, more than 25,000 people were facing food shortages due to persistent heavy snows and record cold temperatures for so late in the season. The Chinese government made 'rare' purchases of U.S. corn at the end of March due to losses of the 2011-12 winter corn crop in many places.

Many people in western China and areas of the frigid far north are running out of warm clothing. Electricity has been cut off by the heavy snows in many regions. Traffic and phone services have been disrupted on a widespread basis. Water supplies have frozen or dried up.

On Tuesday, April 3, heavy snows once again buried parts of northern Japan where the winter of 2011-12 was the harshest in at least 400 years with record amounts of snow being reported since last November.

Back to the far northwest in Scotland, nearly a 'foot' of snow fell last Tuesday in the Scottish Highlands, just days after record-breaking high temperatures for the month of March in the mid 70s Fahrenheit, again one wide weather 'extreme' to the other in short order.

Elsewhere, in North America, Canada's Whistler Mountain Ski Area in British Columbia had its snowiest month of March on record with 12.5 feet of the white stuff, which broke the record of 11 feet in 2003.

Crystal Mountain in Washington gauged over 14 feet of snow this past March, also a new record for the month. This ski resort may be open this spring well into June.

The state of Hawaii experienced its coolest month of March on record with mountain snows, rare large-sized hail, torrential downpours and lowland flooding.

The biggest weather story of the past several months has to be the snowiest winter in recorded history across much of Alaska. Many stations, as of early April, had gauged well over 200 inches of the white stuff. Anchorage had trucked away a record 240,000 tons of snow from its streets as of April 1. Its plowing budget was higher than it normally is over a three-year period.

Near Nome, Alaska, where my favorite TV show, 'Bering Sea Gold' is shot, offshore ice has been unusually thick since late last October posing major problems for shipping companies, fishermen and most town's people. I don't see any gold dredging for at least another 2-3 months west of Nome due to the choking sea ice. It will be a shorter season in 2012 to say the least dredgewise.

By extreme contrast, however, the Atlantic Ocean side of the Arctic has seen far less ice than normal as temperatures have been as much as four to eight degrees Celsius (6 to 10 degrees Fahrenheit) above normal since last November, again another example of our cycle of wide 'extremes,' the worst in at least 1,000 years since the days of Leif Ericsson, the mighty Viking Chieftain.

NORTH IDAHO WEATHER REVIEW AND LONG-RANGE OUTLOOKS

Early April weather patterns are typically 'fickle' across North Idaho and this April is no exception to the meteorological rule.

As of this April 5 writing, the ground was covered by two days of on-and-off snowfall, a pretty picture indeed for my wife Sharon's '39th and holding' birthday. But, we were hoping for some sunshine later in the day by the time we went out for dinner that evening.

Just two days previously, on Tuesday, April 3, the weather was beautiful, sunny and warm with afternoon highs in the mid 60s. The very next day, however, the maximum reading was a record low of just 37 (36.6) degrees on Player Drive, again a prime example of our long-term cycle of wide 'extremes' and the early spring season's 'crazy weather.'

But, after a couple more chilly days with scattered flurries, Randy Mann and I were still expecting a rather nice Easter weekend with afternoon highs again approaching the mild 60s. I don't see any more snow on the horizon, so one can take those snow tires off anytime. Remember, studded snow tires must be removed by April 30.

Longer term, it's possible that we may see afternoon highs in the warm lower 70s by April 14-21, as high pressure builds back into the Inland Empire.

The extended 90-day outlook for our part of the country through the end of June still calls for 'sun and showers,' great for our trees and flowers.

As I said last week, the July through September summer season should be generally warm and dry under a stationary ridge of high pressure. The only rains will be from infrequent thunderstorms, mostly over the mountains.

Cliff Harris is a climatologist who writes a weekly column for The Press. His opinions are his own. Email sfharris@roadrunner.com