Spring weather has arrived! The high pressure system that brought us cool weather for the past few days has drifted southward and is centered just off the coast of the Carolinas today. As that high hangs out down south it will bring a tremendous warming to the East Coast with record or near-record warmth by mid-week.
Today will be the coolest, breeziest day of the week. Look for sunny skies, gusty westerly winds and a high generally ranging from the lower 50s on Long Island to the upper 50s in the city and northern New Jersey. A weak back door cold front will sneak down from New England overnight and stall somewhere near the city tomorrow. Tuesday's high will depend on how far west the front travels before coming to a stop. The consensus is mid 50s on Long Island, lower 60s across the city and possibly the upper 60s west of the Hudson. With that strong a temperature gradient a little wobble in the front's location will make quite a difference in tomorrow's high.
The cold front gets pushed northward as a warm front on Wednesday at the same time a ridge builds in the jet stream. That combination will bring unseasonably warm air for the middle of the week. The National Weather Service is predicting that we will tie Wednesday's record high of 69 degrees set in 2000. Tying the record is child's play according to AccuWeather and the Weather Channel, who are calling for record highs in the lower 70s or mid 70s, respectively. Thursday is again expected to warm to the upper 60s or lower 70s, but the record of 74 degrees set ten years ago is probably safe.
A weak cold front should drop southward through the region on Thursday, bringing with it a slight chance of afternoon showers and cooler weather for the weekend. That's cooler relative to record warmth, not cooler than normal. Friday's high will be around 60 and it won't be all that much cooler for the weekend. In fact, there is no cool weather in the extended forecast which has daily highs remaining in the 50s and 60s for the next couple of weeks.
