Matt Helms

Detroit Free Press

People out enjoying the unusual warmth this afternoon basked in a record-breaking high temperature of 65 degrees but might not have known that it was hotter today in metro Detroit than what was forecast for much of southern California, Arizona and New Mexico.

“All across the area we’re way above normal,” said meteorologist Sara Schultz of the National Weather Service’s White Lake Township office. “Normal for Detroit is 36 degrees.”

Winter has been unusually warm this year — last month was among the warmest Januaries on record — and today metro Detroit beat the high record of 62 set in 1961. Flint, at 61, broke its record of 56 degrees set in 2011.

We didn’t reach the balmy 70s of Florida. But metro Detroit’s high temperature put it in league for the day with New Orleans at 64 but was warmer than the 50s and low 60s forecast for Arizona, New Mexico and southern California by several degrees, according to Weather Channel national forecasts. Los Angeles’ high for today was forecast at 61.

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Schultz said to expect high temperatures in the 50s through Friday, with a chance of rain on Tuesday and then again on Thursday into the weekend, with more seasonal cold temperatures on tap.

Metro Detroiters enjoyed the record temperatures.

Downtown Detroit was full of sports fans headed to the Red Wings game and others grabbing drinks or a bite to eat, with some skating at Campus Martius Park's ice rink with a sheen of moisture on the ice.

People flocked to the Detroit Zoo, where parking lots were jam-packed and traffic backups spilled onto the I-696 service drive in Royal Oak. Zoo spokeswoman Patricia Mills Janeway said attendance today set a record for a Saturday in February as 14,370 people showed up “when attendance would typically top out at a few hundred.”

Golfers took to to courses such as Sylvan Glen in Troy, where hundreds of tee times were booked and were filling up for the week ahead with reports of a warm-weather streak.

"We are fully packed today," said Bri Barnowski, a cashier at Sylvan Glen. "Through the week it's getting just as packed."

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Skiers weren't giving up amid the warmth.

Mark Tibbitts, general manager of Mt. Holly Ski and Snowboard Resort in northern Oakland County, said the snowpack can get a little slushy during warm winter periods, but there's still plenty of groomed snow to ski on.

Tibbitts said the slushier snow makes for slower skiing, which is particularly helpful for newcomers on beginner slopes. And the warmer weather means skiers don't have to wear heavy layers of clothing to stay warm.

“We’ve got quite a few skiers out here today, and we had over 1,000 out here yesterday,” Tibbitts said. “People are having a great time in the warm weather.”

Contact Matt Helms: 313-222-1450 or mhelms@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter: @matthelms.