It Finally Feels Like Spring in Northeast, Great Lakes Early this Week

Brian Donegan
Published: April 9,2017
Spring's much-anticipated warmth is gripping the Great Lakes into the Northeast early this week, threatening record highs in a few spots, and prompting the winter-weary to break out their t-shirts and shorts.
Minneapolis saw its first 70-degree day of the year Saturday, while Rochester, New York, and Green Bay, Wisconsin, broke 70 degrees for the first time in 2017 on Sunday. Traverse City, Michigan, set a new record high Sunday by reaching 77 degrees.
As the jet stream bulges northward in the East and high pressure at the surface sets up just off the East Coast, southerly winds have brought the warmer air northward.

Midwest

Highs will be 15 to 30 degrees above average through Monday from the Great Lakes to the Ohio Valley and Mississippi Valley.
This translates to afternoon temperatures in the 70s in Chicago, Detroit and Cincinnati through Monday. St. Louis reached 84 degrees Sunday, and some parts of the Ohio Valley could top 80 degrees on Monday.
(MORE: 10-Day Forecast Highs/Lows)
Parts of the Great Lakes will cool down to near average on Tuesday behind a cold front, but temperatures will return well above average the rest of this week.

Northeast

The well-above-average warmth is also spreading into the Northeast where it will persist into Tuesday. Given the recent stubborn chilly weather, we won't blame you for burning some vacation days Monday and Tuesday.
Many places, even a few locations in northern New England, will reach the 70s Monday and/or Tuesday, except in far northern New England, where it likely holds in the 60s. New York City is expected to see its first 75-degree day of the season either Monday or Tuesday.

Forecast Highs

The Interstate 95 corridor from Philadelphia to Baltimore and Washington D.C. will likely reach the low 80s Tuesday afternoon, which will make it the first 80-degree day in Philadelphia.
A couple of daily record highs may be set Tuesday in the Northeast, as well. This includes (current record to beat in parentheses): Albany, New York (82 degrees), Hartford, Connecticut (79 degrees), Harrisburg, Pennsylvania (84 degrees), and Worcester, Massachusetts (80 degrees).
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The overall trend through the rest of April is generally above-average temperatures in the Midwest and East, though New England is at the highest risk of spending this month chillier than average as a whole.
(MORE: April Outlook)

'Marchuary' – Colder than February

February was record or near-record warm in a large swath of the southern and eastern U.S., so March was quite a change in the Great Lakes and Northeast, especially.
Many Northeast cities experienced a colder average temperature in March than the average temperature they recorded in February.
(MORE: The Two Warmest Februaries on Earth Since 1880 Have Occurred the Past Two Years)

Average monthly temperatures and departures in January, February and March.

Buffalo saw its warmest February on record with an average temperature of 34.8 degrees, which was 8.5 degrees above average. March finished a degree below average with an average temperature of only 33 degrees.
On the other end of the Empire State, New York City also saw its warmest February on record with an average temperature of 41.6 degrees, which was 6.3 degrees above average. The average temperature in March was only 39.2 degrees, or 3.3 degrees below average.
In Pittsburgh, it was the third-warmest February on record with an average temperature of 40.6 degrees, a whopping 9.5 degrees above average. March wound up 0.3 degrees above average with an average temperature of 39.9 degrees, but it was still a tad colder than February.

MORE: Spring in Every State

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