OH/PA: First Day Above Freezing Since New Years

Today is the first day above freezing (32 degrees F) here since New Years Day for AccuWeather.com HQ and many towns in Ohio, western Pennsylvania and the southern Appalachians. Temperatures around noon had already surged into the mid and upper 30s in the area:

Here's a map of the highest temperatures between January 2nd and 13th and some more specific examples. You can read more about the early January cold outbreak on my earlier blog which has been updated with newer information: "Over 1,900 Record Lows Broken or Tied".

State College, PA: 37 on 1/1/10, below 30 since thenCleveland, OH: 34 on 1/1/10, below 29 since thenYoungstown, OH: 33 on 1/1/10, below 31 since thenPittsburgh, PA: 34 on 1/1/10, below 28 since thenCharleston, WV: 40 on 1/1/10, below 32 since then

Sometimes the absence of weather is weather news. Today and tomorrow, the bulk of the United States will be under unusually warm and calm weather for this time in January.

But this is only in advance of a Nor'easter (but not a major snowstorm) for the Northeast coast this weekend and an onslaught of heavy rain and snow next week for California (Ken Clark is talking about preparing now, and NWS is talking about measuring snow in yards, not feet!)