March Comes in Like a Lamb

Another taste of Spring as temperatures soared well into the 60s Monday. Although the skies were cloudy and rain fell throughout, some parts of the area felt record breaking temperatures!
Here are some of the record temperatures for Monday (in degrees F):
Wilmington, DE: 66
Wildwood, NJ: 66
Atlantic City, NJ: 70
Dover, DE: 72
Surrounding areas felt temperatures well into the 60s. The average temperatures for the Tri-State for this time of year is around the upper 30s to the lower 40s.

Rain, rain, and more rain! Some of us late Sunday evening had such downpours and experienced a few (wildly loud) cracks of thunder! Thankfully, I was sound asleep otherwise I would have been up tacking the storms on their trek, in a true weather weenie way...

These mild temperatures, rain, and storms are triggered off by a larger and rather strong cold front that was pushing through the area. Referring to the RADAR image below, numerous tornado and severe thunderstorm warnings were issued in wake of the advancement of the strong cold front.

Surface Map 2/27/11 Courtesy of NWS/NOAA/HPC

RADAR Image of the advancing cold front. Courtesy of NWS/NOAA/HPC

After this cold front moves through, colder air from Canada will push through. Sunny skies will be the highlight, but temperatures will fall through midweek before they rise again towards the end of the week.
Wednesday temperatures will be in the middle-upper 40s (slightly above average), while Thursday, high temperatures will struggle to get out of the 30s.

In wake of the thunderstorms and tornadoes, I must mention that the week of February 27th (yes, this week), is PA's Severe Weather Awareness Week. Check out this link for their daily break down of severe weather safety discussions and tips.

Note: Starting the week of March 7th- 12th (next week) , I will be conducting my own severe weather awareness series. Stay tuned for discussions...It will be cool, I promise!

February ends off rather balmy and March now greets us with sunny skies and above average temperatures.
The flowers are beginning to peek up from out the ground, temperatures are more frequently now becoming a roller coaster of highs and lows. The seasonal transition is upon us. The first day of Spring is just a few weeks away! However, remember that it is still Winter. I still have my fingers crossed for another snow storm.

Let the Spring count down begin!