NYC Weather: A Look Ahead

As we've passed the midpoint in Winter and get closer to Spring, we sometimes see brief mild spells that give parts of the Northeast a tease of Spring. For NYC it's that time of year when many hipster New Yorkers break out the shorts and flip -flops when temperature breaks 45 degrees.

While brutal cold and wind has wrecked havoc on the Winter Olympics, a change in the weather pattern in North America has allowed the jet stream to come straight out of the Pacific Ocean across the United States. This has allowed bitter cold Winter air to remain mostly locked up in Canada and the Arctic regions, while Pacific air has taken over most of the country.

As the jet stream rides north today into Friday, much above normal temperatures will flood the eastern part of the country. After a few showers Thursday morning, some sun will break out and temperatures will near record territory in NYC. 63 is the daily record for Thursday, February 15th and the high temperature will flirt or possibly break that number Thursday afternoon. It will be a great day for biking or a picnic or rooftop happy hour!

A cold front moving in the jet stream will bring showers Friday and then sharply colder air Friday night, but only back to near normal. As the front stalls south of the Northeast, a low pressure will likely develop near Tennessee and move off the Mid-Atlantic coast Saturday night and Sunday. It will likely be cold enough that it will bring snow to the New York area as it moves by, beginning sometime Saturday evening and ending early Sunday. Because of the fast jet stream flow, it should not be a huge storm but several inches of snow could fall Saturday night and be done sometime Sunday.