I just wundergrounded my Maryland zip code...wind chills as low as 5 on Thursday night and 0 Friday night..... BBRRRRrrrrrrrrrr
I guess to have a January thaw you gotta have a January DEEP FREEZE.
From Wikipedia: Sinusoidal estimates of expected temperatures, for northern locales, usually place the lowest temperatures around January 23 and the highest around July 24, and provide fairly accurate estimates of temperature expectations. Actual average temperatures in North America usually significantly differ twice over the course of the year.
For five days around January 25, temperatures are usually significantly warmer than predicted by the sinusoidal estimate, and also warmer than neighboring temperatures on both sides.
During this "thaw" period, usually lasting for about a week, temperatures are generally about 10 °F (6 °C) above normal. This varies from year to year, and temperatures fluctuate enough that such a rise in late-January temperature would be unremarkable; what is remarkable (and unexplained) is the tendency for such rises to occur more commonly in late-January than in mid-January or early February, which sinusoidal estimates have to be slightly warmer.
Come ON, heat wave...I think I can, I think I can.....