USA National Forecast

Record Warmth Brings Early Spring Fever To The East Before Shifting Back To The Southwest

We've seen record highs for days in the South and East, but that warmth will shift back to the Southwest by late-week.

Temperature Departures From Average - March 11 - 14.
(Warmer colors indicate above average temperatures. )

False spring has swarmed across the Central and Eastern U.S. in recent days, but the West is about to get in on the warmer weather once again.

Say Hello To Reality In The East

On Wednesday, more records are possible in the East from Florida to New York. But the map below has just a taste of the pattern change that will happen later this week when a new storm system brings in a fresh wave of cold air.

(MAPS: 10-Day US Forecast Highs/Lows)

The immediate East Coast will see one more day of well above average temps on Thursday, but the rest of the eastern half of the U.S. will see temperatures return to average with highs in the 40s, 50s and 60s.

Record Warmth Returns To West

As false spring comes to an end in the east, another wave of record warmth will arrive in the west, as the pattern flips once again.

(MORE: Allergy Season Is Growing)

The West will see dozens of records fall for the foreseeable future, beginning Thursday.

This record heat will cover much of southern and central California and stretch eastward into Texas. Some records could also be set as far north as Colorado. Los Angeles, San Diego, Phoenix and Albuquerque are all cities that could see daily records at least one day in the next week.

Daily temperatures will gradually climb each day. By early next week, places as far north as San Jose and Redding could see highs near 90 degrees.

(MORE: March Outlook)

This pattern change will pull colder air southward from Canada beginning Monday in the Rockies and Plains, then pushing to the rest of the South and East on Tuesday. That could be followed by another cold front Friday into next Saturday. Temperatures will be up and down for much of the week ahead.

Record Warmth So Far

March has kicked off with record highs across much of the South, and that taste of spring warmth will continue for another day across much of the Northeast before shifting back to the Southwest.

In fact, it began before the calendar turned to March. Phoenix tied or set new daily record highs four days in a row, all in the 90s. One Deep South Texas reporting station recorded what may be the nation's hottest winter temperature.

(MORE: Record Warmest Winter In Parts Of The West)

Last week, we saw daily record highs tied or set on Tuesday in Austin, Texas (89 degrees), Memphis, Tennessee (81 degrees), and Sarasota, Florida (89 degrees), among other places.

Wednesday saw more records tied or broken in College Station, Texas (86), Tuscaloosa, Alabama (83), Memphis (81) and more cities across the Southern Plains and Southeast. And Thursday saw more records tied or broken with Gainesville, Florida (87), Vicksburg, Mississippi, (85) and Birmingham, Alabama (83).

Memphis, Tennessee, broke a daily record again Friday (83) as well as Tampa, Florida (90), and Atlanta, Georgia (83).

Some notable daily high temperature records that were tied or broken on Monday occurred in South Bend, Indiana (73), Milwaukee, Wisconsin (70), Islip, New York (68) and Toledo, Ohio (73), among several others.

Tuesday, that record warmth continued to shift east, including the Northeast and Southeast. Central Park broke their daily high temperature with a high of 80. Other daily records that fell were Boston (Logan AP) with 73, Hartford, Connecticut (74) and Worcester, Massachusetts (67), among several others.

Jonathan Erdman is a senior meteorologist at weather.com and has been covering national and international weather since 1996. Extreme and bizarre weather are his favorite topics. Reach out to him on Bluesky, X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook.