I've had success wintersowing in previous years. But the last couple of years I've been having issues. Specifically, when to start.

I wanted to start this weekend but I'm nervous. In December I've had a pattern of cold weather for several days followed by warm temperatures for several more days. My daffodils are already up and several inches tall which is VERY early for me.

I'm worried that if this weather pattern continues I will get germination far too early. I can't bring a bunch of seedlings indoors as I just don't have the space.

So my question is should I wait to wintersow until temperatures are consistently cold? That might not be until late January/early February. Is that enough time? Because in recent years temperatures have started warming as early as March with no late freezes.

Our weather is up and down here too. We can have late freezes into early May.
I'm not an expert on winter sowing but I'm sure it's ok to winter sow your perennials now.
Is it your annuals you're worried about? Some people wait until March for those but some people sow them earlier. For the most part they won't germinate until they're supposed to even when you sow them early. Some annuals need cold stratification and some don't. It's time consuming but you can research each one to find out if does. Or search to see if it's "tender"
If you have a freeze after your tender annuals have sprouted, maybe you could move those against a south wall and cover them with a tarp instead of bringing them indoors.
The containers get much warmer in the sun than they do in the shade. You can discourage early sprouts by putting them in a shadier location.
Hope that helps. I've been winter sowing off and on for 20 years(?) but I'm still learning. The weather is never the same.

Thanks! It seems as if the cold weather may be here to stay. We may even get snow next weekend!

Unfortunately I don't have a south facing wall I can put my containers against. All my containers are in an area that faces east. They are up against a wall and with no leaves on the trees they get a lot of light in the morning.

I've had perennial seeds sprout way too early before and lost them when we had an unexpected hard freeze that lasted several days. Typically in the winter and very early spring I don't check my containers. Mostly because I also start seeds indoors so even if something sprouts I can't bring it inside. But I have some seeds this year that I really want to grow so I guess I'm just going to have to plant them and hope for the best.