Many Triangle residents have chosen T-shirts over sweaters in response to unseasonably warm temperatures for the month of January.

“I’m going out in Rainbows, T-shirts and jeans, and I’m fine,” Diana Coyle, a junior in communication, said.

The New Jersey resident said many of her friends from Buffalo and Cornell are astonished at the mild weather Raleigh has seen over the past month.

Ryan Boyles, associate state climatologist at the State Climate Office, said warm weather trends are not uncommon for this time of year — but said they generally last for several days to a week.

“It’s been warmer than normal, but we haven’t seen some of the extreme warm temperatures from recent years,” he said.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported that 2005 was the second warmest year on record.

Boyles said the trend has continued into this year and has exceeded the average temperatures, but predicted that area residents will still have a chance to enjoy winter weather following the typical “January thaw.”

January has been the sixth warmest winter month in the state’s history, Boyles said.

Last year holds the record for the number of days the temperature exceeded 70 degrees, he said.

Boyles said the average daily maximum temperature was 58.1 degrees, with an average daily low of 37.8 degrees.

“We’re going to see a few more warm days, but we’ll see plenty of cold days,” he said. “We always see a period of warm days in North Carolina.”

In the mean time, Coyle said she has enjoyed dressing to go out in tank tops on the weekends.

“Driving around with my windows open is a really nice change,” she said.