Warmer, More Widespread January Thaw Expected This Week For Central, Eastern States

Brian Donegan
Published: January 15,2017
A January thaw is shaping up this week in the central and eastern states following the icy mess from Winter Storm Jupiter.
Parts of the South and East experienced a brief warm-up last week prior to the storm, and several record highs were set in those regions. However, this week's thaw looks to be warmer, more widespread and longer lasting, with the entire eastern half of the Lower 48 experiencing temperatures 15 to 30 degrees above average, at times, for multiple days.
(MORE: 10-Day Forecast High/Low Temperatures)

A weather pattern more typical of early spring is expected to set up this week, with the polar jet stream generally diving southward in the West, and correspondingly surging northward in the central and eastern U.S. into eastern Canada.
The warmth could result in scattered daily record highs in the Midwest and South, at times, through the week ahead.
(MORE: When Is the Coldest Time of the Year?)

Forecast Highs Monday-Wednesday

• Monday: Highs 15 to 30 degrees above average will stretch from the Mississippi Valley into the Ohio Valley and Deep South. Temperatures should reach the 60s and 70s across the South, with highs in the 50s as far north as the Ohio Valley.
• Tuesday: All areas east of the Mississippi River are expected to be 15 to 30 degrees above average. Highs in the upper 50s or low 60s are possible as far north as southern Virginia and southern Ohio.
• Wednesday: From the Plains to the Eastern Seaboard, highs will be 10 to 25 degrees above average. Highs in the 50s are possible as far north as the mid-Atlantic. Most of the Midwest should see highs rise above freezing.

(FORECAST: Philadelphia | Indianapolis | St. Louis)

Forecast Highs Thursday-Saturday

• Thursday: Temperatures 10 to 30 degrees above average remain likely from the Plains to the East Coast. Highs in the 40s and 50s will be common in the Midwest and Northeast, with 30s confined to the far north. 60s and 70s will persist in the South.
• Friday-Saturday: Much warmer-than-average temperatures will prevail from the Plains to the East Coast. Highs in the 50s and 60s are possible as far north as the Ohio Valley, mid-Mississippi Valley and mid-Atlantic.

​(FORECAST: New York City | Pittsburgh | Memphis)
Friday is Inauguration Day in Washington D.C., and our current forecast challenges the record-warmest Inauguration Day from Ronald Reagan on Jan. 20, 1981, when the high temperature was 55 degrees.
The 8- to 14-day temperature outlook from NOAA's Climate Prediction Center (CPC) suggests this thaw will continue into the last full week of January for the East.
While this large chunk of the United States enjoys the January thaw, parts of Alaska's interior will be shivering with temperatures plunging into the minus 40s this week. Typically, when Alaska sees such frigid temperatures in the winter, a portion of the Lower 48 states will end up with well-above-average warmth.
(MORE: Alaska to Plunge into Frigid 40s Below Zero)

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