USA National Forecast

Record Warmth Began March in East, South

Lightning Fact or Myth?

Just days after last week's warmth shattered thousands of daily records and over two hundred monthly records, a new warm up broke dozens of record highs from the Midwest to the East and South to finish February and begin March.

A southward dip in the jet stream over the West resulted in the jet stream surging northward into Canada over the eastern U.S. In addition, southerly winds ahead of a cold front allowed warm air to engulf much of the East.

(MORE: East of the Rockies, Signs of Spring Already Beginning to Pop Up)

Several record highs were tied or broken Tuesday, including in Springfield, Missouri (77 degrees), Shreveport, Louisiana (85 degrees), Tyler, Texas (68 degrees), Jacksonville (87 degrees), Tampa (86 degrees), Scranton, Pennsylvania (64 degrees), and Binghamton, New York (58 degrees).

On Wednesday, numerous record highs were once again broken (new record): Columbia, South Carolina (84 degrees), Norfolk, Virginia (83 degrees), Richmond, Virginia (81 degrees), Albany, New York (66 degrees), Jacksonville, Florida (88 degrees).

(MORE: 6 Unusual Things the February Pattern Has Brought)

How Warm Was February?

The eastern half of the United States endured one of the warmest streaks of February weather on record. The warmer-than-average temperatures broke thousands of records, including over 400 all-time February record highs.

(MORE: As Spring Approaches, Here's When Temperatures Typically Warm Up)

Many locations recorded their warmest February on record, including Atlanta, Buffalo, New York, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, Philadelphia, Rochester, New York, and Washington D.C.

Several all-time record-high temperatures for February were set Feb. 11 in Texas, including Midland, Lubbock and Wichita Falls, where highs soared into the 90s. Denver also set a new record-earliest 80-degree day on Feb. 10, breaking the previous record by more than a full month.

(MORE: All-Time February Heat in the Southern Plains)

More recently, from Feb. 17-24, roughly 2,900 daily warm records (record highs and record-warm lows) were set across the U.S. Over 250 all-time February warm records (record highs and record-warm lows) were also set, according to NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information.