Even if you don't live in the East or North Bay where there has been actual snow and frost, the last few nights have been wickedly chilly around here. It's taken a lot of will power to leave the warm comfort of bed in my drafty, frigid apartment the past several mornings, and if you, like me, left the house over the holiday weekend in a thin jacket and got caught outdoors after nightfall, you know that winter has come early this year and that you should never do that again.

As the Chronicle tells us, temperatures were down in the teens and 20s up in Healdsburg and Sebastopol on Saturday night. And while it probably hasn't dipped below 40 here in the city, it certainly felt like it has. And for those of you without ample heating apparatuses or central air, I am very sorry for your bone chilling morning trips to the toilet.

Some relief is on the way, though, as the area of low pressure off our coast makes way for some high pressure, and temperatures get a bit milder this week. We're due for a possible sprinkle of rain today, followed by clear skies and then a potentially wet storm on Thursday. And while forecasters say the nights won't be quite so freezing this week, I'm still seeing lows in the forties, so it's still going to feel pretty damn cold, and heavy coats and scarves are advised.

Also, sweaters for small dogs.