❄️😭 Winter will never be the same

It’s Thursday, Boston.

☕ The Dunkin’ gods have answered our prayers. And by that we mean Dunkin’ is bringing back fan faves for its spring menu, like the coffee milk-inspired Dunkalatte and pistachio coffee. We’re partial to the Dunkalatte. Check out all the new offerings here.

👀 What’s on tap today:

• Mayor Wu gets spicy

• Mass.’ new sanctuary city

• A local “Bachelor” cameo

Up first…

CLIMATE

Winter’s new normal?

Thought this winter felt like a “normal” New England winter? Think again. According to the Globe, we need to update our definition of “normal.”

Here’s what to know:

❄️ Mother Nature came to play this winter. Or, we should say, La Niña came to play. Through late February, we got nearly three times the amount of snow as last year, and tied our “snowmageddon” season for days that hit freezing temps. Not to mention icy sidewalks … After a few years of more rain than snow, the chilly vibes felt like a return to a classic New England winter, and Bostonians celebrated appropriately.

😬 Buuuut, reality check: This year’s snowfall was below the norm, with our average temps firmly within Boston’s “normal” range. So if the weather felt more brutal this year, it’s probably due to a little bit of dissonance in our expectations. Last winter, Boston saw its warmest winter on record (the average temp was 36.4 degrees), and we got a measly 9.8 inches of snow. 

🌡️ Boston winters are changing for the warmer. “In just three generations, picturesque winter wonderlands and reliably freezing cold temperatures have become the exception,” according to the Globe. Compared to the mid-1900s, New England winters are about three degrees warmer, and the effects aren’t hard to chart: It’s been 10 years since Boston had a February with an average temperature below 30 degrees. And what used to look more like a consistent sprinkling of snow now trends toward once-in-a-while dumpings and less snowpack.

🌧️ Seasons like this year will be the outlier pretty soon. Right now, our winters are closer to what would be considered “normal” in New Jersey. But as things continue to heat up, future projections show our climate looking more like Baltimore, or — without immediate intervention — Memphis in just two generations. 

⛷️ Translation: Warmer and wetter winters will be the norm, as will hotter and more humid summers. This will impact everything from animals who rely on snow cover for survival, to towns dealing with more flooding, to ski resorts’ bottom line. Some have already begun to pivot. 

👀 Want more? You can read the Globe’s full coverage on our changing winters here.

QUICK QUESTION!

🤧 Do you get seasonal allergies?

CITY

Quick & dirty headlines

🔥 Mayor Michelle Wu had a spicy time in Washington. It wasn’t quite the bombshell it was billed as, but Wu’s congressional testimony on Boston’s immigration policies was certainly spicy — and filled with a handful of social media-ready moments. She was insulted and threatened with prison, and she declared “shame” on “border czar” Tom Homan, but she stayed steady and poised, and came out looking pretty good. Meanwhile, back in Bos, over 100 people led by city councilors and advocates gathered on City Hall Plaza in support of Wu (plus about a dozen counter protesters).

🏳️‍⚧️ Cambridge just took a major step to protect trans folks. On Monday, its City Council unanimously voted to become a “sanctuary city.” Basically, as President Trump launches some attacks on the community, this vote reaffirms the city’s commitment to supporting trans and nonbinary folks, and pledges not to cooperate with federal or state policies aimed at harming them. During the session, councilors, advocates, and citizens showed their support: “We need to stand up to that bullying and help folks to feel more comfortable and safe in this community,” Vice Mayor Marc McGovern said.

⚠️ Local colleges have a warning for international students: Keep your immigration paperwork on you at all times. That’s the literal advice that Emerson, MIT, and BU are giving their international students amid Trump’s recent executive orders, according to WBUR. Of Mass.’ 82,000 international students, 1% are estimated to have undocumented status. And yet, some students are cancelling spring breaks or rethinking travel plans over fear that they might not be able to return to the U.S. So far, no local incidents of on-campus immigration enforcement have been reported.

🍛 Two hot new restaurants have entered the villa. A.k.a. Boston’s foodie scene. First: Don’t Tell Aunty, a soon-to-open Back Bay spot, promises to infuse some fun and energy into Boston’s Indian scene with casual and affordable bites like Kerala fried chicken sandwiches, rasam ramen, and “chaat’ar” tots. If it tastes as good as it looks, we’re IN. And Park’s Kitchen, a delivery and pick-up-only restaurant with glowing Doordash reviews, is now open in Roxbury. It specializes in authentic Korean cuisine, particularly Dosirak (lunch boxes) and Tteokbokki (stir-fried rice cakes). 

ONE LAST THING

The Bachelor’s local hometown

Bachelor nation might’ve noticed a local cameo this week. It’s hometowns week on “The Bachelor,” which means Bachelor Grant Ellis visited the hometowns of each of his final four ladies to spend a day and meet the fam. One of those towns? Our very own Newton!

Contestant Juliana Pasquarosa said she wanted “to show him the way that us Italians get down here in Newton,” and show him she did. The pair hit D & A House of Pizza for a pie, Busy Bee Flowers for a bouquet, Antoine's Pastry Shop to fill some cannoli, and Olivia’s Bistro for pasta before an only mildly awkward party where he met Pasquarosa’s huge family. 

We won’t give you any spoilers on how everything went down, but if you want to know whether Pasquarosa made it to the honeymoon suites, you can find that info here.

— Written by Gia Orsino and Emily Schario

🌹 Thanks for reading! BTW, the fact that this all went down in Newton did not stop the producers from playing “Shipping Up to Boston.” Classic.

🍸 The results are in: The B-Siders have spoken, and they want us to give The Red Fox’s Extra Dirty Cocktail Club the B-Side Certified treatment. One reader said: “Get down and dirty ladies.” We’re on it.

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