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It’s Going to Get How Warm Today? Temperature Already Above 60 Degrees and Creeping Up on a Record

By Paul T. Choate

The entire Southeastern U.S. and portions of the Midwest are experiencing unusually high temperatures today. Map courtesy of The Weather Channel
The entire Southeastern U.S. and portions of the Midwest are experiencing unusually high temperatures today. Map courtesy of The Weather Channel

Jan. 29, 2013. It’s not even quite lunchtime and the thermometer is already showing 63.5 degrees in Boone. Considering most of the mainstream weather outlets were forecasting a high of 62 degrees today, the record high for Jan. 29 is not out of reach. 

According to the Southeast Regional Climate Center, the hottest temperature ever recorded for Boone on Jan. 29 was 66 degrees back in 1975. Today is the first time in 11 years that record has even come close to being in danger.

According to Ray’s Weather Center, the average high for Jan. 29 for the past 10 years has been 42.3 degrees. Back in 2002, the record was almost broken when the mercury rose to 64 degrees. 

Local weather station Ray’s Weather was calling for a high of 62 degrees today. The National Weather Service gave us a slightly better chance of possibly tying or breaking the record, calling for a high of 65 degrees today.  

The unusually warm weather today is the result of a ridge of high pressure that is creating a large dome of warm air across a large swath of the Southeastern United States. Record highs could potentially be set all over the South today from Texas to Florida and north up as far as possibly the Great Lakes states. 

This is quite a change from the snowy, icy weather we’ve all recently gotten accustomed to. Enjoy it while you can though. Tomorrow will bring warm — albeit, not as warm — temperatures but also the chance of heavy rain. After tomorrow, we will return you to your regularly scheduled winter, with temperatures not expected to get back above 45 degrees for the foreseeable future in The Weather Channel’s 10-day outlook. 

To stay on top of the current conditions here locally, check out raysweather.com

Additional maps

1 p.m. temperature forecast. Map courtesy of the National Weather Service
4 p.m. temperature forecast. Map courtesy of the National Weather Service