Remember last week when rounds of snow and ice forced Texas and many other South Central states into a once and a century energy crisis? While the effects of the bitterly cold air that burst pipes and caused water shortages aren't going to be solved anytime soon, conditions across the central US have improved dramatically. As the arctic air started to retreat over this past weekend, as some areas reached above freezing for the first time in a week and a half (Wichita, I'm looking at you).
On Monday, Rapid City recorded a high temperature of 57 degrees. Just how cold was it in Rapid City, South Dakota last week? Temperatures sunk to 24 degrees below zero, meaning that residents saw an 81 degree contrast from last week, to this week. What's even more impressive is that we saw temperatures swing from well below average to well above average for this time of the year. Take Oklahoma City, for example. This Tuesday we saw high temperatures top out at 72 degrees, making for a more of a springtime feel rather than late February. That's 15 degrees above the average high temperature for the end of February, and an 86 degree temperature difference from the minus 14 degree temperatures last week.
The Central US isn't the only place that experienced a temperature swing, many cities in the Eastern US saw a nice warmup this week, albeit not as dramatic. Wednesdays high temperatures for many eastern cities soared into the 50s, with Cleveland coming in at almost 60 degrees. These numbers were enough to smash the previous record of the warmest day this year, which topped out at 47 degrees on January 13th. With colder air staying well to the north, we can expect temperatures to stay mild for now.
