After Thursday’s high, a big chill looms for area
Temps in the 80s expected to drop to 40s by Saturday
Temperatures recorded Thursday at Norfolk International Airport reached at least 80 degrees and broke the all-time record for Feb. 23, according to the National Weather Service.
But the warm spell won’t last long. Temperatures in Hampton Roads are expected to dip back into the 40s on Saturday.
The forecast showed a high for Thursday of 82 degrees, though it was unclear whether the temperature officially reached that mark. From there, temperatures are forecast to begin a steady drop into the mid-60s today. The high for Saturday will be 45 degrees — with a wind chill of 32 around 6 a.m. — before temperatures climb to 60 again Sunday afternoon, according to NWS.
There’s even chance for a wintry mix in the northern part of the Eastern Shore late Saturday morning, but this dramatic shift from hot to cold is not completely out of the ordinary, according to meteorologist Alex Butner.
“We have a pretty strong front coming through that’s really knocking the temperatures back and there’s going to be clouds, light sprinkles of rain as well keeping the temperatures down on Saturday,” Butner said. “It’s certainly quite drastic but we are
still in the winter season so there’s still a lot of cold air that could be tapped into if the conditions are right so we’re getting just the right conditions for Saturday to see that wild swing.”
Butner added it will be coolest near the coasts, and some isolated areas further inland could reach the mid-80s.
The previous record for Feb. 23 was 79 degrees, set in 1975. By 1 p.m. Thursday,
the temperature had reached 80 degrees, setting a new record. The hottest day recorded at the Norfolk International Airport in all of February is 82 degrees, which was set in 1890 and was tied in 1997, 2012 and 2017, according to NWS records.