It’s not very common for the Mohawk Valley to experience a thunderstorm well into winter, but that surprise was exactly what Mother Nature brought with her Friday morning.

National Weather Service in Binghamton Meteorologist Mike Murphy said thunderstorms struck Rome and the surrounding region between 6:30 and 7 a.m., which brought less than an inch of rain. However, raindrops soon turned to flakes and temperatures began to dip around 9 a.m.

“It’s still snowing lightly, but we’re not expecting much snow for Rome,” said Murphy Friday morning. “But it’s quite rare to have a thunderstorm in mid-February.”

Temperatures are expected to stay more “seasonable” on Saturday with highs expected to be in the mid 30s, with a low of 28 degrees, Murphy said. On Sunday, temperatures will become more mild, however, with cloudy skies and a high of 46 degrees, low of 36 degrees.

As for the extended forecast into Presidents’ Day, “It’s staying around 40 degrees for Monday with rain showers,” Murphy said. “The system brings in a better chance for rain, but then it looks like there will be a ‘wintry mix’ Wednesday into Thursday next week.”

For the remainder of February into early March, “In one or two weeks the region is trending colder and the last week of February, heading into March, it’s much favoring more normal, seasonal temperatures, and there is a chance for more precipitation at the beginning of March — that may mean more snow events,” the meteorologist added.

He said for the entire month of March, Rome and the surrounding area will experience near normal temperatures, with below average temperatures favored for the north over the Adirondack Region. There will also be near to above average precipitation in March, Murphy said.

The “swing” in temperatures this season has local farmers concerned about the outcome for some crops, including winter wheat, and what affects it has on barn animals.

“The general consensus among us farmers is that at this point of the month, we’re ahead of the normal weather pattern — we’re a month ahead of normal — this is more like mid to late-March weather as opposed to mid-February weather,” said Ben Simons, owner and operator of Simons Family Farms, 9664 Starr Hill Road, Remsen. “The concern we’re all having, like with hay for instance, there has been little snow cover this winter and then we had that deep freeze two weeks ago, which splits the crowns of the grass and causes frost kill. We’re concerned about the amount of hay fields affected, and we’re concerned for farmers who planted winter wheat.”

Simons further explained that even a light snow cover on the fields is ideal, because it would serve as at least some protection as temperatures dip from below to above normal.

“We always get warm and cold every year, but it’s not as severe on hay and the winter crop if you go from between 30-40 degrees during the day and maybe down to 10 degrees at night,” the long-time farmer said. “But when you have temperatures like today where we started with rain, but tonight it will be down to 10 degrees.”

Warmer temperatures also means softer ground, and Simons said that even affects what fields farmers spread manure in at this time of year.

“When we’re spreading daily manure — the smaller farms do — we’ve got to be very selective of the fields we’re on, because we’re cutting into the fields, which creates compaction and ruts in the fields,” Simons explained. “Once you make a rut in the field, it’s like making a pothole. Then your tractors are going to bounce over those ruts.”