After several days of bright sunshine, balmy temperatures and the blooming cherry trees, Salem is getting its first taste of springtime.

Now comes the bad news: We aren’t quite there yet.

“We do have a little rain coming in this weekend and we’re actually going to return to more seasonable temperatures,” said Beth Burgess, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Portland. “The problem with spring is that you have a lot of variation here. But it’s fair to say that spring is coming.”

The high temperature in Salem hit 67 degrees Wednesday, 63 on Thursday and is predicted to peak at 57 degrees today and 66 degrees Saturday.

The record temperature for March 15 was set in 1947, Burgess said, when a highly unusual heat wave brought an 80-degree day.

“The normal temperature is 57 degrees, so it’s near normal,” she said. “Within ten degrees or so. It’s not terribly unusual to be in the mid-60s in March. You’ve hit 60 degrees six out of the last 12 days,” as of Thursday afternoon.

But Sunday is forecast to bring rain and temperatures dropping back into the 50s, lasting into early next week. The long-term forecast for the next few weeks calls for a lot of back-and-forth.

“It definitely gives people that taste of spring and they’re ready for it,” Burgess said. “But we’re not out of the woods yet.”

Cherry trees around the city are beginning to take notice, too. Keizer resident Wilbur Bluhm has been tracking plants and blossoms for decades, including one cherry tree in Bush’s Pasture Park for which he has records for the past 39 years. And according to him, the blooms are a day or two ahead of schedule.

“We’re running a little earlier than normal,” he said. “After yesterday (Wednesday) and today (Thursday), that could have been speeded up because of the temperature. Warmer temperatures might accelerate that.”

Bluhm said cherry trees hit their peak about a week to a week-and-a-half after they first begin to blossom.

“There’s a lot of things happening with plants right now, and it’s generally sooner than what we usually see,” he said. “We’re running a little bit ahead of average.”

lfosmire@StatesmanJournal.com, (503) 399-6709 or on Twitter @fosmirel