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83 degrees was the high in Roanoke today ... eclipsing the old March 7 record of 80 set in 1974. This was the hottest day we've had since Oct. 15.

Blacksburg also set a record high of 76, beating the old mark of 74 set in 1956.

Keep in mind Tuesday's lows were 13 in Roanoke and 6 in Blacksburg. A 70-degree swing in four days is pretty rare in this area, even in a changeable month like March.

Sunday will be much the same -- sunny with highs in the mid 70s to low 80s. March 8 records of 83 in Roanoke, set in 2000, and 75 in Blacksburg, set in 1994, could be in jeopardy.

Cold air is still likely on the way late this week into next week.

Blacksburg's high of 61 on Sunday eclipsed the previous Feb. 8 record of 60, set in 2001. Roanoke's low temperature of 52 broke the previous Feb. 8 record for warmest low temperature, 48 set in 1965. Roanoke's low Sunday morning was 57, but temperatures fell a little faster to 52 by midnight under clear skies Sunday night and behind a weak cold front that moved through Sunday.

Today's highs in the 50s to lower 60s won't be record setters. Highs  in the 60s and maybe some low 70s on Tuesday and Wednesday will be widespread as strong low pressure system winds up to our west bringing in mild southwest breezes. Record highs for Feb. 10 are 71 for Roanoke (1959) and 66 for Blacksburg (2001), definitely not out of reach. For Feb. 11, the records are 80 for Roanoke (probably out of reach), dating to 1932, and 67 for Blacksburg, set in 1959 (possibly within reach).

A midweek front with the next storm system will bring a slight cooldown, but it will be Pacific air not Arctic air, so we'll stay pretty mild through the weekend. The front might even to lead some thunderstorms ... Southwest Virginia is at the edge of the slight risk for severe thunderstorms on Wednesday, according to the Storm Prediction Center. The pattern begins to shift back to more typical February temperatures for Valentine's Day weekend.

Not only did the temperature reach the 60s today, it vaulted all the way to 68 in Roanoke, tying the record high temperaure for Feb. 7, set previously in 1927.  It was the warmest day since Dec. 19, when it hit 69.

Another day in the 60s is possible Sunday, though some morning clouds and showers might hold the mercury down a little more than it did under bright sun and breezy west-southwest winds today.

Roanoke could well top 60 degrees each of the weekend days.

We didn't see much of the 60-degree mark in January, which, as weird as it sounds, is unusual this decade. There were only two days that reached or exceeded 60 in the January just passed: 62 on Jan. 5 and 64 on Jan. 23. Roanoke hasn't had so few 60-degree days in January since 2001. Even the cold winter of 2002-03 produced three 60-degree days in January. In recent Januarys, we''ve had five 60-degree days in 2008, eight in 2007, nine in 2006, 10 in 2005, and five in 2004.

Though it twists logic a little, Februarys, closer to spring, have not been as prolific with 60-degree days: five in 2008, 2 in 2007, six in 2006, seven in 2005, four in 2004 and just one in 2003.

We are likely to see three to five 60-degree days in the next week. But not long after that, colder weather will probably return.

According to the National Weather Service in Blacksburg, Blacksburg fell to -4 this morning and Roanoke had a low of 3, both of which were the coldest since February 1996. The coldest temperature reported by the weather service in our region was -10 at Burkes Garden in Tazewell County ... an elevated valley surrounded by steep mountains.

Talk about cold: Big Black River, Maine, reported a low of -50 on Friday morning. If that withstands a National Weather Service review of the equipment and data, it will become Maine's new all-time state record low, beating a mark of -48 set at Van Buren, Maine, on Jan. 19, 1925.

There probably won't be any record lows set for Roanoke or Blacksburg during this Arctic outbreak. The Jan. 16 record is -4 for Roanoke, -10 for Blacksburg, each set in 1972. The Jan. 17 record is -4 for Roanoke, -12 for Blacksburg, each set in 1977. I would be surprised if any of those fell.

The one record that does seem to be in play is Roanoke's record for lowest high temperature on Jan. 16, which is 19 set in 1977. Our high on Friday will probably be somewhere near 20, so that mark could be eclipsed if we come up a couple of degrees short. Blacksburg's Jan. 16 coldest high of 8 set in 1994 will probably be safe.

The Roanoke Times, on page 6A, is running a graphic with a few notable Arctic outbreaks of Southwest Virginia's history. I actually put together a much longer list that I will add below as a comment to this entry.  This list should put whatever happens in some kind of historical context.

Click here to follow the temperature hour by hour for several stations in Virginia, West Virginia and North Carolina.

The last couple of days have provided a widespread 1 to 3 inch rain in Southwest Virginia, with a few amounts higher than that. It's been enough that there has been some localized flooding that has closed roads in Franklin and Pulaski counties. Overall, though, this was just what the doctor ordered for continued recovery and renewal from a long-term drought -- and dry regions up and down the Appalachians from Georgia to West Virginia also benefited. A little more rain fell here and there after these totals were taken at 8 a.m., but the list below (in a comment) from the National Weather Service should give a pretty good idea of how much rain fell near you.

Also tonight: A wind advisory remains in effect for most of Southwest Virginia, and a winter weather advisory has been issued for Wythe, Giles and Carroll counties and points westward for the threat of accumulating snow overnight and early Thursday as upslope snow bands develop in the mountains. I would not be surprised to see som brief heavy snow showers in the New River Valley and perhaps even into the Roanoke Valley, especially in the morning. I'll follow up more on the winter threats later; meanwhile, click here to check the latest from the National Weather Service in Blacksburg.

This will probably deserve revisiting at some point, but Roanoke finished 2008 with an average temperature of 57.6 degrees, a little more than a degree above normal, and a total rainfall of 33.25 inches, almost 9 inches below normal. The average temperature was much cooler than 2007, the warmest year on record in Roanoke dating to 1948 at 59.2 degrees. Despite a cold start, December rallied to 2.7 degrees above normal (41.8 average), making it one of four months at least 2 degrees above normal for the year (February, March and June were the others -- June being the hottest relative to normal, 4 degrees above the mark). The remaining eight months were within two degrees of normal, five slightly above normal, three slightly below normal. The rainfall deficit means that Roanoke is 21 inches below normal over the last 24 months.

Whether or not you had that much at your house, the official Roanoke snow measurement on Tuesday, November 18, was 0.4 inch. Checking back over daily weather records, snowfall tallies are frustratingly spotty since the mid 1990s, but it's safe to say there hasn't been a measurable snow this early in the 2000s ... the only November snow of that time frame was on November 23, 2005, also .4 inch (it was a wet snow on the evening before Thanksgiving that mostly accumulated at high elevations.) Though different sources confuse the issue, it appears Roanoke received some measurable snow -- possibly as much as 0.4 inch -- on November 13, 1995. Before that, Roanoke got 2 inches of snow on November 11, 1987. So Tuesday's skiff was likely Roanoke's earliest measurable snow in either 13 or 21 years.

Roanoke's toasty high of 78 today was only 1 degree off the Nov. 6 record high of 79, set just three years ago. A similarly warm day is expected on Friday -- the Nov. 7 record high of 78 dates to 1945.  After that, cooler weather returns, and several days next week might feature the chance of chilly rain as temperatures retreat into the 40s and 50s. The forecast maps from the Climate Prediction Center still reflect a strong chance of colder than normal, wetter than normal weather through the next two weeks.