I was in Norway years ago during the summer (July). We went up in the mountains (only a few thousand feet of elevation if I remember) and there was a ski resort....OPEN! In fact, it was only open in the summer because that was the only time they could get the road plowed. So ski season was during the summer. Obviously, there is snow cover there all year round. http://www.fjords.com/summerski.shtml
The first sign of spring for me is when the warm late February sun arrives. The few inches of snow we got last night quickly melted off the driveway, even though it never got above ten degrees today.