Five-day forecast
TODAYHigh: 75Low: 44THURSDAYHigh: 72Low: 44FRIDAYHigh: 69Low: 43SATURDAYHigh: 59Low: 39SUNDAYHigh: 56Low: 33
After a high of 82 degrees Tuesday, it may be tempting to put away those sweaters and break out the sunscreen, but more cold weather might be right around the corner.
A heat wave that has been sitting over the region has driven temperatures to near-record levels for mid-March, nearly 20 degrees higher than average for the 15th.
"It's been outrageously warm," said Paul Barys, chief meteorologist for WRCB-TV.
But that doesn't mean winter is ready to let go quite yet, he said. As summer approaches, the weather can change dramatically from week to week.
He said there may be an overnight frost as soon as early next week, which could be a problem for everyone who decided to get a jump on this summer's garden. Barys recommends holding off for just a bit longer.
"A lot of people are thinking about planting things," he said. "One thing people don't understand about planting warmer stuff like tomatoes is that they don't grow well until the nights get warmer."
He said warm temperatures should hold through the end of the week, but there will be a marked cool-down over the weekend and the start of next week that will push Chattanooga to near-freezing temperatures during the night. The potential for freezing becomes more likely farther north.
Sam Roberts, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Morristown, Tenn., said such wild swings in temperature are to be expected for a transition month like March.
"There's still cold air out there and it's fighting warmer air," he said.
Overall, he said, he doesn't expect the month's temperatures to be particularly unusual, but he has been surprised by how quickly temperatures have snapped back and forth from extremes.
"This year, it seems like we went straight from winter to almost summer-like conditions," he said. "We kind of skipped out on spring."
The 82-degree high in Chattanooga on Tuesday was just 4 degrees shy of the record set for the same day in 2012, but several other southern cities saw new highs.
In Alabama, Birmingham and Anniston hit 85 and 84 degrees, respectively, while Atlanta set a new record with 83 degrees.
Farther west, weather services were predicting record highs in the low 90s as a possibility in both Austin and San Antonio, Texas.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
Contact staff writer Emmett Gienapp at egienapp@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6731.