A warm wind blows this week

You would have to go back to the 1930s to see the kind of balmy weather we'll get today and Tuesday.

News 10 NBC meteorologist Rich Caniglia says today's high temperature will be around 60 degrees, and likely surpass the 60-degree mark Tuesday. Both days will take a run at long-standing records.

A record high of 57 degrees was set for this day back in 1930, and 62 degrees was the warmest Jan. 8 on record - set back in 1937.

"Today's record should easily be reached at the Rochester airport," Caniglia said.

The warm weather developed in the southwest and was brewing in the middle of the country before it swept into western New York Sunday night and Monday morning, says Caniglia. Fortunately, much of the snow that built up over the past few weeks had already melted, staving off the threat of floods.

"Luckily, all the snow is gone," he says. "So, even if we get rain on Wednesday, there should be no flooding concerns."

While such balmy days in winter are not that rare - "everyone has heard of the January thaw," says Caniglia - this pair will be well above-average.

"Last year, the winter didn't even get started until the middle of January," he says. "It's not weird to get a day where it flirts with 50 (degrees), but ... this will be the warmest January 8 of the last hundred years or so."

So, when will winter again rear its icy head? Caniglia expect temperatures to start to drop Wednesday afternoon into the night, when the mercury will fall from the 50s back into the 30s, with the chance of a rare January thunderstorm.

Temperatures should be more seasonable, with daytime highs in the 30s and nighttime lows in the 20s, by the weekend, when it may snow.

Contact Philip Anselmo at (585) 394-0770, Ext. 322, or at panselmo@mpnewspapers.com.