That's right! 40 (degrees) never looked so good! But listen Mr. January Thaw (see earlier blog post), you better not overstay your welcome!
The polar jet (or the northern branch of the jet stream), which for weeks has dipped into the deep south, is now retreating back into Canada, thus allowing a nice push of southerly warmth to infiltrate most of the United States. When this happens the gates are open for temperatures to climb back to seasonal levels, or even slightly above normal. Within The Northeast Quadrant, from New York to Boston, temperatures into the low 40s can be expected through Saturday, while Washington, DC could rise to 50. This is a region of the country that has only reached 40 degrees once or twice since Christmas.
However, while we're enjoying the outdoors this weekend and feeling a little more comfortable, cold arctic air will be building up in northern Canada just waiting for that strong polar jet to show signs of bending. When it does, it will make it's move and the frigid temperatures and snow will return (we hope).
