Above-normal temperatures continued to warm much of the country east of the Rocky Mountains on Tuesday and forecasters predicted the unusually pleasant weather would continue into next week in many areas.
The National Weather Service said a high pressure zone blocking the normal flow of cold air out of Canada was sending temperatures "well-above normal" throughout the Midwest and Northeast.
Though temperatures did not breach record levels in most U.S. cities on Tuesday, forecasters predicted another 10-degree surge, on average, on Wednesday, when daytime highs in many parts of the Midwest and Northeast could push into the mid to high 70s and the high in Chicago could reach 80 degrees, according to Accuweather.com.
At noon, the temperature at Chicago's lakefront was 61 degrees and the temperature at O'Hare International Airport was 63 degrees -- well below the record high of 73 degrees.
"We're not breaking any records today here," said Amy Seeley, a meteorologist in the Chicago office of the Weather Service. "But it's still more like late April than March."
At noon Central time on Tuesday, only one city in the country -- Burlington, Vermont -- had set a new record high, according to Accuweather.com, though Carl Erickson, a senior meteorologist at the private forecasting firm said that number would likely rise as the day went on.
On Monday, a host cities on the East Coast, including Bangor, Maine, Boston, Massachusetts, Providence, Rhode Island and New York City enjoyed record high temperatures.
Record highs were also set in parts of Missouri and Kansas, according to Accuweather.com.
Forecasters say the warm weather east of the Rockies will continue through at least the end of this week and may extend into next week.
"It's not going away anytime soon," Erickson said. "Looks like this warm set-up for the central and eastern half of the nation will persist for another week, week and a half."
Not every part of the country was enjoying above-normal temperatures on Tuesday.
West of the Rockies, a strong storm was bringing rain and snow to parts of the Pacific Northwest and Northern California.
The heaviest rain and snow was expected in Northern California, where forecasters were predicting 1 to 3 feet of snow in the highest elevations of the Northern Sierra.
Light snow also dusted parts of Seattle overnight though it quickly melted as temperatures, which were expected to max out in the mid-40s, rose Tuesday morning.
Erickson at Accuweather.com said California was likely to get hit by "a pretty significant storm" over the weekend, with rainfall along the coast and snow in the higher elevations.
"While it's warming up here in the east, it's stormy and colder than average in the West," Erickson said.
