Rain, not snow, starting falling over the area in the wee hours of Monday morning.

Combined with temperatures that remained at or slightly above 50 degrees overnight, the rain has washed away what little remained on last week’s surprise snowfall that left a coating in most of Southwestern Virginia and remained as freezing temperatures prevented melting.

With a 100 percent chance of rain Monday and temperatures that expected to remain in the mid-to-high 40s, the snow and salt will be replaced, for the most part, but mud.

With the week’s temperatures now forecast in the mid 40s and 50s before cooling somewhat by Sunday, the beginning of February is looking a lot less frigid than January.

Still, the pesky groundhog in Pennsylvania saw his shadow and predicted six more weeks of winter, which is a good argument for groundhog stew.