Rising temps to hit 50 next week as region basks in a January thaw

By Lauren Dezenski, Globe Correspondent

The cold weather that chilled commuters and hampered the region’s public transit system this week will largely disappear this weekend, and temperatures are projected to reach 50 degrees by the middle of next week, according to the National Weather Service.

Temperatures in Boston will top out at 36 degrees today, though sustained winds of 15 miles per hour will add a slight wind chill.

As the weekend progresses, temperatures are expected to remain in the high 30s with lows in the 20s, said Charlie Foley, meteorologist with the National Weather Service station in Taunton.

Although a slight chance of flurries is possible starting Saturday evening through Sunday, Foley said, any accumulation is likely to be inconsequential, much less plowable.

“We have a series of fronts coming through, but the air mass itself is so dry and the fronts lack the moisture to have any real precipitation,” he said.

The January thaw, which will be a welcome change for those still recovering from the single-digit temperatures of Thursday, is expected to be the dominant weather pattern for most of next week. The temperature is expected to peak near 50 degrees.

Although the warmup is not unusual, Foley cautioned that temperatures won’t stay elevated for very long.

“Before the month is out, we could have another cold outbreak,’’ Foley said.