A springlike weekend with temperatures approaching 70 degrees is
ahead, but forecasters are hypothesizing Arctic air could dip
southward to push the mercury below normal late in the month.
Temperatures are forecast to reach 60 degrees or higher three
days in a row, Saturday through Monday, without a chance for
showers until Monday evening. While that warmth is about 20
degrees above normal, it isn't all that rare. The last time BWI
Marshall Airport did not break 60 degrees at some point in
January was 2009. Every other year since at least 2008, at least
one January day has surpassed 60 degrees. Last January, on the
7th and the 31st, the airport hit 66 degrees, the same high the
National Weather Service is forecasting for Sunday. Forecasters
expect a cold snap is behind the warm spell, though it's still
almost a couple of weeks out and therefore could easily change.
There were predictions of Arctic air dipping southward in the
beginning of December, and the month instead started with five
days of 50s, 60s and