Temperature Records Shattered in the East

Holy smokes, it's warm out there. Daily and monthly high temperature records are being smashed all across the Northeast United States.

It all started Tuesday when essentially all of the major cities in the East broke their daily record highs:

• Boston

• Old record: 68

• New record: 70

• Cincinnati

• Old: 72

• New: 79

• Cleveland

• Old: 69

• New: 73

• Philadelphia

• Old: 70

• New: 78

• Washington, D.C.

• Old: 76

• New: 78

• New York City

• Old: 61

• New: 64

A daily high record is broken when the highest daily temperature is greater than any other previously recorded temperature on that specific day, at a specific location. But on Tuesday, some locations broke monthly records.

Cincinnati hit 79, the warmest February day in the city. Similarly, Charleston, WV hit a monthly high record of 81 and Pittsburgh's mark of 78 ranks as the warmest February day in the land of the Yinz.

Wednesday is off to a similar start with 11 monthly records already broken including Central Park, NYC and Newark, NJ. Here's the full list from Tuesday:

So why are we seeing all of this warmth? There's a cold front sweeping across the U.S. and it's headed for the East. But before that front makes to the coast, it's pulling warm, moist air from the south. It's a process called "warm air advection". In the United States, we generally see this when there's a southerly wind but that's not always the case when mountains, lakes, or other topographical features are involved.

Temperature records over the last 24 hours - Source: coolwx.com

While summer is making a brief appearance, it's not here to stay. The cold front will make it's way to the East later tonight, bringing rain and cooler weather.