Unseasonably warm temperatures draw mixed reaction



MILWAUKEE -- Temperatures were in the 70s Wednesday, March 14th, as the Milwaukee area got a sneak preview of spring - which doesn't officially begin until next Tuesday, March 20th. These unseasonably warm temperatures brought a mixed reaction from folks around the area.

Trinetta Lipsey said it wasn't just the great food that lured her out to lunch Wednesday afternoon at Milwaukee's La Fuente. "The atmosphere today is gorgeous!" Lipsey said.

Sunny skies combined with temperatures in the 70s drew many to La Fuente's north patio Wednesday afternoon. "It's way busier than it has been lately, when it's cold. Last night we had the patio open and it was pretty packed, even for the 60s," La Fuente server Cody Acevedo said.

For an establishment like La Fuente, that hangs its sombrero on offering good times and good margaritas on two separate patios, Acevedo listed the benefits of having such warm weather so early in the year. "(People are) more relaxed. If it's super busy, it's fine. If you're not coming by for five minutes, they're sipping on their drink and having a good time. I love it," Acevedo said.

Not everyone was particularly happy about Wednesday's heat wave, however. At New Berlin's Patterson Orchards, the family's third-generation apple grower, Jay Patterson said he wasn't relaxing Wednesday, as he worried his 30 acres of apple trees might be growing too quickly. "Everybody's enjoying the nice weather, but for us, it's definitely not good," Patterson said.

Consumers could find apple prices doubling, depending on the weather. Patterson explains that the longer we go with warm weather, the more devastating it could be for the apples if the temperatures dip below freezing.