Hi, I'm the SWO at DTW and there is nothing wrong with our thermometer. Also DTW isn't in an urban heat island either, its actually on the edge of the metro, south and west of here is mostly farms, open land or woods.
I mean December is obviously doing all the heavy lifting on these numbers. It was still a significant cold snap that we went through, to say otherwise is foolish.
It will be if we don't get some snow/cold in February. December was one of the warmest on records and even with the cold snap this month most places are just barely below normal and we are looking at warmth coming in next week that should take away any negative departures.
Yeah it is definitely looking real warm for a bit here. I think we are setting up for another drop around mid February, which some of the longer term models are showing as well. Basically a repeat of the last 4 weeks with the excessive warmth transitioning to significant cold.