The weekend (and ironically February) brings welcome relief from the blast of Arctic cold that gripped a large swathe of the Midwest and Northeast the second half of this week. This record-breaking cold resulted in multiple deaths from people literally freezing to death to being involved in weather-related accidents. Not only does the cold snap end, but there will be a gradual warming trend each day such that by Tuesday, we could see high temperatures near 60°F. The overall pattern of upper level flow across the continent looks to be flattening into a zonal and progressive one, versus the extreme ridging/troughing that brought this polar vortex on us.

Rest of today – high clouds build in as a disturbance to our south moves offshore. Not anticipating any precipitation from this. Warmer than yesterday though still cold with highs in the low-20s. Overnight lows also remaining cold in the mid-teens

Saturday – slow clearing from partly sunny skies. High temperatures in the mid-30s. Overnight lows not much colder around 30°F.

Sunday – as a center of high pressure moves offshore to the east, clockwise return flow around the western periphery of this high will bring much warmer air with it, bringing high temperatures into the mid-40s with partly cloudy skies. Overnight lows in the mid-30s may equal the high temperature for Saturday

Monday – we’ll be in the warm sector of an approaching low, and that’ll bring high temperatures into the low-50s with mostly sunny skies. Again, overnight lows look to be similar to the previous day’s highs, in the low-40s.