The trees are budding in Lansing? That is incredible.
I grew up pretty near you (near Jackson). I never saw green in the trees before the first week of May was ending.
Here in central Illinois there is now green in even the tall trees. Almost exactly a month before normal. About thirty years ago now I spent a half decade in San Francisco. The winter we just had here was comparable to one of those winters. Though I'll admit that the thermometer plunged lower than it would have there several times, the winters there had a wet, deep-bone-chilling coldness. In terms of over-all comfort level, they were roughly equal. Had the wind been less severe, this past winter (between Chicago and St Louis) would have been more comfortable than one in SF. Hard to believe.
I am in the camp who believes that CO2 from fossil fuels will warm the planet, but I have a hard time believing that it could be this abrupt. (If I'm wrong there, then "Fellas, it's been good to know ya")
I'm more inclined to think that this year is warmer than average simply because some years have to be.
But what a difference!