Skip to content
Link copied to clipboard

Summer hors d'oeuvres coming as temperatures aim for 80; we're not used to this

Temperatures could make a run at 80 in Philly on Friday and Saturday. Yes, don't get used to it.

The Jefferson Memorial as seen through cherry blossoms last week in Washington. (Olivier Douliery/Abaca Press/TNS)
The Jefferson Memorial as seen through cherry blossoms last week in Washington. (Olivier Douliery/Abaca Press/TNS)Read moreOlivier Douliery/Abaca Press/TNS

By the end of the work week the region should find itself in a delightfully warm atmospheric sandwich.

The upshot will be a shooting up of temperatures — 80 or perhaps 80-plus on Friday and Saturday, says AccuWeather, normal for early June and the highest readings in six months — and they are going feel even warmer. We're not used to this.

"The temperatures have been beat down for so long everyone is really out of touch," said Dave Dombek, a meteorologist with AccuWeather.

High temperatures failed to get past the mid-40s Monday and Tuesday, which would have been normal for the third week of February.

Therein lies a certain symmetry: It so happens that the official high back on Feb. 21 in Philly was 77, back in the days before March and April reintroduced the region to winter.

The late snows have bumped up winter snow totals around the region impressively. Officially, 29.8 inches was measured at Philadelphia International Airport, where the seasonal average is 22.4.

But to the north and west of the airport, some of the totals have been New England-ish, according to the meteorologists and other observers posting on the phillywx discussion board.

For example, 58 inches was reported in West Rockhill Township, in upper Bucks County; 52.6 in Wayne, on the Main Line, and 38.3 in Moorestown.

That really should be it for snow, although that's not necessarily a done deal; the warmth is not going to last, but the region should have at least a few delightful days in the sun.

High pressure over the Atlantic will import mild air from the south; winds circulate clockwise around the centers of highs. Low pressure to the west will give the south winds a boost; winds blow counterclockwise around low centers.

Temperatures should reach well into the 50s Tuesday and Wednesday, flirt with 70 on Thursday.

We probably shouldn't mention this. Temperatures could be 40 degrees lower on Sunday afternoon, Dombek said.

And after the weekend, the Climate Prediction Center says the overall pattern will bring back unwelcome recent memories.

Temperatures are forecast to remain below normal in much of the nation in the 6- to 10-day period, with above-normal precipitation throughout the East.