What happened to spring?
One powerful sea breeze is turning back the calendar four months.
It's a balmy 69 degrees – in Pittsburgh – but around here the temperatures couldn't make it to 45.
It doesn't happen very often in Philadelphia that the temperature fails to get out of the 40s on April 8. In fact, the official high of 44 would be No. 11 among the coolest daily highs for an April 8th in records dating to 1874.
That 44 would be 18 degrees below normal for the date, and 44 happens to be the normal high for Dec. 18.
The chill is riding east-northeast winds straight off the Atlantic Ocean where surf temperatures are in the chilly 40s.
Strong high pressure over the Canadian maritimes was the driving force behind the massive sea breeze. Winds circulate clockwise around highs, so areas to the south of the centers experiences winds from the east.
By contrast, Pittsburgh is out of reach of the sea breeze, and on winds from the south its temperatures have climbed into the upper 60s.
We will get our turn, allegedly, come Friday, when temperatures are forecast to reach the mid-70s, but the atmosphere might fire up a few thunderstorms in protest.