It’s no secret that this winter has been mild across the eastern United States. Temperatures across the Valley last week nearly reached record highs and some places even went into the low 70s for the first time in 2023.

2023 has been the fifth warmest winter so far in regards to the average temperature at the Youngstown/Warren Regional Airport. However, this winter has been even more extreme in other parts of the United States.

The following locations are experiencing the warmest start to a year ever:

Akron, Ohio

Newark, New Jersey

New York JFK International Airport

Nantucket, Massachusetts

Philadelphia International Airport

Louisville International Airport, Kentucky

Norfolk, Virginia

Auburn, Alabama

Lakeland, Florida

Ft. Lauderdale, Florida

Naples, Florida

There are several other cities that were not included in the list that are experiencing the warmest start to a year. Additionally, the majority of weather stations east of the Mississippi river are experiencing at least a top-10 warmest start to a year as far as the average temperature goes.

If we take an in-depth look at Philadelphia’s warm start to 2023, then we begin to see some interesting details.

The average high temperature, average low temperature, and average temperature in Philadelphia, PA has been 49.5°F, 34°F and 41.7°F, respectively. All three of these values are around 8 degrees above the normal value for this time period. The average low temperature and the average temperature is the warmest of all time.

The period of weather from January 1 through February 9 has been similar to conditions expected in Norfolk, Virginia which is about 5 hours south of Philadelphia.

Table showing the date, average high temperature, average low temperature, average mean temperature, and total precipitation for Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The term “DFN” stands for departure from normal. The all-time ranking is showing below DFN. The most similar day of year (DOY) identifies, for the observed period of recent weather, the day(s) during the calendar year in which the 30-year normal temperatures are most similar. This table also shows which city this weather is most similar to. Data courtesy of NOAA.

What about Youngstown?

While this has not been the warmest start to a year in Youngstown, it has certainly been within the top 10.

The average high temperature, average low temperature, and average mean temperature has been 41.1°F, 28.4°F and 34.8°F through February 9th. Therefore, 2023 ranks in the top 10 for all three of these categories with the low temperature being the third warmest of all time.

Also notice that 2023 is off to the 15th wettest start of all time in Youngstown with a 1.3 inch precipitation surplus so far.

The weather during this time period is more similar to what people would expect in New York City during the same period.

Table showing the date, average high temperature, average low temperature, average mean temperature, and total precipitation for the Youngstown/Warren Regional Airport. The term “DFN” stands for departure from normal. The all-time ranking is showing below DFN. The most similar day of year (DOY) identifies, for the observed period of recent weather, the day(s) during the calendar year in which the 30-year normal temperatures are most similar. This table also shows which city this weather is most similar to. Data courtesy of NOAA.

What can we expect for the rest of February?

The above average temperatures will continue to persist into the second half of February. The 6-10 day temperature outlook from the Climate Prediction Center (CPC) shows that much of the northeastern United States stands a 60-70% likelihood of above average temperatures during this time period.

Day 6 through day 10 temperature outlook from the Climate Prediction Center (CPC). The red colors represent likelihood of above average temperatures while the blue colors represent likelihood of below average temperatures.

Meteorological winter ends on February 28th and even warmer temperatures will start to arrive during the spring months.