2023 Starts With Above-Normal Temperatures In MA: NWS

MASSACHUSETTS — 2023 is just starting, but it'll feel like spring across Massachusetts early in January.

Long-range forecasts issued by the National Weather Service on Dec. 29 show that warm temperatures will likely continue over the first two weeks of January. Precipitation levels will be at about normal, however.

There's up to a 70 percent chance of above-normal temperatures as the month begins, to be exact. But what's normal? Here are the average temperatures for January over the past 20 years for different parts of the state, according to weather service data:

• Boston — 30.1 degrees
• Worcester — 24.9 degrees
• Springfield — 25 degrees

Temperatures over the first week of January will top out at about 60 in the Boston area on Wednesday, according to forecasts. The long-range forecast doesn't guarantee temperatures will stay that warm, just that they'll be above-average.

The predicted warm start to 2023 clashes with other long-range forecasts, which previously predicted heavy snow this winter — of course, there are still a few months left in winter.

According to AccuWeather’s 2022-23 winter forecast, New England could get above-normal snowfall — the only place in the country where that's expected outside the Rocky Mountains. Snowfall totals will be boosted by expected nor'easters, with the highest chance of the storms hitting being in January and March, AccuWeather said.