Wild Temperature Swing Along East Coast Briefly Brings Warmth

(Bloomberg) -- New York will get a hint of spring in the middle of winter this week with a 40-degree temperature swing between Tuesday’s low and Thursday’s expected high.

The mercury will reach 53 degrees Fahrenheit (12 Celsius) in New York and Boston on Thursday, or about 15 degrees above normal, said Bob Oravec, a senior branch forecaster at the U.S. Weather Prediction Center in College Park, Maryland. The warm air will come with heavy rain along the coast from Virginia to Massachusetts, where flood and flash flood watches have been posted.

On Friday, frigid air will rush back in with temperatures falling to a low of 19 in Manhattan. The cold will then hang around from the central U.S. to the East Coast for the next 10 days, Oravec said.

Such swings aren’t unusual for January. Last year, the high temperature in New York for the month was 61 degrees, reached on the 12th. Two days later, the mercury hit a low of 15, a 47 degree swing.

To contact the reporter on this story: Brian K. Sullivan in Boston at bsullivan10@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Lynn Doan at ldoan6@bloomberg.net, Reg Gale, Christine Buurma

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