SALISBURY — February 23, 2023, will go down as the hottest one of its kind, surpassing the previous record for the date from five years ago.

According to the Piedmont Research Station records, the temperature on Thursday reached 80 degrees. The previous high was 77 degrees and was set in 2018.

Steve Monday, chief forecaster for Rowan County Weather, said  much of the East Coast was experiencing unseasonably high temperatures.

“High pressure off the coast of Florida along with a cold front moving in from Tennessee are ushering in warm air from the southwest,” Monday said Thursday. “We refer to the southwest air flow as the blowtorch here in the Carolinas from a meteorological standpoint.”

Monday warned that while a brief return to colder temperatures could be expected over the weekend, it would not last.

“We are definitely seeing above average temperatures in the longterm forecast,” Monday said.

Getting outside in the fair weather and sunshine seemed like a no-brainer for many area residents.

Donna Via lives in Lexington, but she and her four-year-old son Parson were out enjoying downtown Salisbury on Thursday afternoon.

When she saw what the weather was calling for, she knew they needed to get out and play.

“He loves outside and he loves warm days,” Via said.

With so much cold weather of late, Via indicated that finding avenues to get Parson outside had been challenging.

“It has been tough finding ways to get out and burn energy,” Via said.

Meanwhile, Laura, Drew and Chandler Myers were also enjoying the warm weather. It was Laura’s daughter Frankie’s first birthday.

“We were going to go eat dinner for Frankie’s birthday in Mooresville, but I was like we should go do something outside and let the kids play,” Drew said.