Record Temperatures Reach Mid-Atlantic; 120-Year Washington, Baltimore Minimums Broken

Feb. 18 Update: Added more reports for Ohio, New Jersey, New York, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina.

Midnight Update: The midnight temperatures are: National 59°, Dulles 55°, and BWI 55°, so the record high minimums hold.

Quantico and College Park are still at 60° and 61°, respectively. On the Maryland Eastern Shore, Ocean City is a summer-like 65°, and Salisbury is 63°.

The National Climatic Data Center preliminary report shows nearly 200 new record highs on Feb. 18 alone. Following a similar number the previous day, the month-to-date count is now almost tied with record lows.

6 PM Update: Nearly all major National Weather Service reporting locations in Pennsylvania tied or broke high temperature records (see list below). Reports to be added as available.

Original post:
Temperatures soared into the 70s for the second consecutive time today in the DMV (DC/Maryland/Virginia) region. The highs of 77° at Washington National and 75° at Dulles were both new records, and the 74° at Baltimore/BWI missed the record by only 1°. The Washington high is 30° above normal.

In addition, the morning lows were all new record high minimums. Assuming they hold through midnight, which appears to be likely, the minimums will break 120-year-old records.

Note that these record high February temperatures, which follow a record hot summer, broke records which followed the previously warmest summer of 1980.

The new records (old records and dates in parentheses) are:

                     High           Low
Washington National  77 (76, 1981)  52 (50, 1891)   
Washington Dulles    75 (73, 1981)  53 (50, 1976)  
Baltimore/BWI                       51 (50, 1891) 

More records set or tied in other states:

Zanesville OH    66 (64, 2006)
Youngstown OH    59 (tie, 1994)
Greenville SC    78 (73, 1916)
Raleigh NC       78 (75, 1948)
Greensboro NC    75 (71, 2008)
Charlotte NC     78 (tie, 1891) 
Richmond VA      77 (tie, 1976) 
Wallops Is. VA   73 (64, 1986) 
Danville VA      77 (tie, 1976) 
Lynchburg VA     75 (tie, 1927)
Blacksburg VA    65 (tie, 1976) 
Roanoke VA       72 (tie, 1971) 
Pittsburgh PA    66 (65, 1981)
Williamsport PA  66 (63, 1981)
Harrisburg PA    69 (tie, 1890)
Allentown PA     67 (66, 2008)
Philadelphia PA  69 (tie, 1891, 1890)
Reading PA       71 (70, 1981)
Atlantic City NJ 72 (69, 1981)
Trenton NJ       72 (tie, 1890)
Newark NJ        71 (69, 1981)
Kennedy Airpt NY 67 (57, 1981) 
LaGuardia NY     67 (66, 1981)
Binghamton NY    58 (57, 1981)

Image (click to enlarge): U.S. surface temperature map at 3 pm EST, February 18, 2011, shows 70° readings as far north as the Mason-Dixon line (from Unisys)