Fast-forward to spring
Today’s temperatures will be more than 20°F (11 K) warmer than normal for this time of year, as winter meets its premature demise in much of the United States. It has been a week since the high temperature observed at Boston’s Logan Airport was colder than its climatological normal, and today’s warm weather would be more suited for mid-May than for late February. This anomalous warmth is part of a pattern that has generated springlike weather over the East and the South, causing temperature records to be broken at many sites in those regions. Anomalously warm weather is forecast to continue for at least two more weeks east of a line running roughly from Texas to Wisconsin. With the first day of astronomical spring less than a month away, the prospect of a return to winter is becoming increasingly unlikely.
Southwesterly flow associated with a low pressure system to our north will cause temperatures to skyrocket into the 60s (°F) this afternoon. Another pleasant morning is on tap for tomorrow, with temperatures eclipsing 50°F (10°C) by midday. But a back-door cold front will be coming in from the northeast, knocking the temperature back into the 40s (°F) by mid-afternoon. Southwesterly warming will return for Saturday, but showers and a possible thunderstorm will be in the mix as a strong cold front approaches by Saturday night.