Spring may have sprung, but the only way you'll be warm tomorrow is if your Easter bonnet has ear flaps on it.

In fact, with a high in the upper 30s, Easter this year will be colder than was Christmas, when the high was 43.

"With Easter, you typically think of warm weather," said AccuWeather meteorologist John Gresiak. "But this year, you're going to have to put on the heavy bunny outfit."

That's because this year, we have the double whammy of Easter occurring about as early as it can, while the region is mired in below-normal temperatures for longer than anyone cares to remember. Normal highs this time of year are about 50 degrees, but the highs forecast for today and tomorrow are only about 40 degrees.

In this region, snow is predicted for today -- 1 to 3 inches in the Pittsburgh area and upwards of 6 inches to the north and east of the city.

And it's worse elsewhere in the nation.

Flood-weary Midwesterners fought yesterday to save their homes and businesses from rivers spilling over their banks, after rainstorms blamed for at least 16 deaths moved through the region. Thousands of people from Arkansas through Ohio were staying in shelters or with relatives, as flood waters lapped against their homes.

Salvation Army Maj. Byron Medloch yesterday said 1,000 people displaced by the Meramec River in eastern Missouri were housed in shelters. Another 1,000 were in shelters near Poplar Bluff in far southeast Missouri, where the surging Black River breached several levees.

To the north, a fresh snowstorm blew through Minnesota and Wisconsin and into the Chicago area, and forecasters said the storm could leave as much as 9 inches of heavy snow in the region. About 350 flights were canceled and numerous others were delayed at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport.

In northern Ohio yesterday, residents prepared for an expected 3 to 6 inches of snow, while flood victims in the southern parts of the state began the arduous task of cleaning up after some of the heaviest rain in years. Rivers receded yesterday in Ohio, but several areas were still under flood warnings. About 70 state roads were closed or partly blocked by flooding; crews were trying to pump water off a major route into Columbus, the state highway patrol said.

A blizzard warning remained in effect in northern Maine, where fierce winds had already scattered a foot or more of snow. "Even though it was spring yesterday, we still have winter on our doorstep," spokeswoman Ginny Joles of Maine Public Service Co., northern Maine's major electric company, said yesterday.

And in this region, the weather version of March Madness shows no immediate signs of abating.

"We won't have any extended periods of warm weather next week. We'll have a couple of warmer days, when the temperature will spike upward for a day or two, and then it will get knocked back down," Mr. Gresiak said. The pretty good days will be in the 50s and the not-so-good days will be in the 30s and 40s.

On a positive note, the National Weather Service reported that the area's rivers crested yesterday. By early this morning, the Monongahela River at the Point was expected to recede below the 18-foot level that flooded the Mon Parking Wharf since 2 a.m. Thursday. The wharf is expected to reopen Monday morning.