Unusual warmth will persist across the eastern U.S. over the next few days before a cold front knocks temperatures back down to average for February.
A building ridge of high pressure is expected to lead to temperatures between 10 and 30 degrees above average for many communities east of the Rockies. High temperatures in the 60s and 70s across most of the country’s southern tier are expected, with even sporadic 80-degree readings possible.
“East of the Mississippi River, it’s very likely going to be warmer, and if you’re west of the Rockies, it’ll most likely be cooler because it’s the wet-season activity,” FOX Weather meteorologist Steve Bender said. “Then that trade continues into the latter half of the month as well. So, February is trending to be warm.”
On Wednesday, the cold front will begin to confine the warmth to the Southeast, with locations like Atlanta reaching the 70s. The average high in Atlanta is in the 50s this time of year.
In addition, highs in the 60s will try to sneak into parts of the Interstate 95 corridor Wednesday and could make it as far north as Philadelphia.
Overall, more than 200 million Americans will feel temperatures above average through at least Thursday.
This warmer-than-average trend will continue into Friday across much of the East Coast ahead of the cold front. A few record highs will be possible across parts of the Northeast on Friday as temperatures approach 60 degrees.
Although the front will be losing some of its cold air as it surges east, temperatures will return to levels that are closer to average by Saturday in the wake of the cold front.
The long-range computer forecast models indicate that a pattern of well-above-average temperatures will continue across much of the eastern U.S. into next week.
The FOX Forecast Center said it’s important to note that many locations saw their warmest January on record, and February is already off to a fairly warm start except for the bitterly cold blast last weekend.