That recent cold snap that seemed to hang on is ancient history along the Gulf Beaches in Florida this week.

Sunny skies are here again – in January.

Today, temperatures have been in the mid-70s on the Pinellas Beaches, but they will increase to the low 80s for the weekend. That's pretty darn near perfect.

Let's see if 2013 will be aother recordbreaker for warm temps in Florida.

According to NOAA's National Climatic Data Center, 2012 was the warmest year on record since 1895 in the lower 48 states, including the Sunshine State.

The unusually warm start to winter is due in part to high pressure spanning from Florida to the Bahamas.

The high pressure is pushing the polar jet stream into eastern Canada, which results in the cold air being "bottled up in the West and Plains states through the weekend," The Weather Channel reports.