A Warm Weekend For Some

This morning's slop is from the edge of a storm passing out to sea well to our southeast. We'll stay cool for today but the weekend and early next week is shaping up to be sunny and mild for most of us. A big high pressure system is in control of our weather and there's no Arctic or polar air in sight. If we're lucky we'll have temperatures in the mid-40s over the weekend and near 50 next week.

If we're lucky. Don't expect it to get too warm if there's still a lot of snow cover. When it is not too dirty snow reflects much of the sunlight that reaches the ground. If sunlight is reflected the solar energy doesn't go toward heating the ground, which in turn heats the air above. When the snow is dirty the sun's energy goes toward melting the snow rather than heating the ground. Either way, snow keeps us cool.

There's another factor that will keep some of us cooler than expected this weekend: The sea breeze. Snow-free land heats up quicker than the ocean. The temperature difference is large enough to produce a small-scale circulation that will carry cold air inland. Gothamist doesn't know how far inland that cool air will reach, but Sunday is probably not a good day to have a picnic at Coney Island.