Just as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration was calling January the fourth warmest on record across the contiguous United States, forecasters are predicting snow for this weekend.

The National Weather Service is calling for an 80-percent chance of snow in this region early Saturday starting after midnight and falling mainly before 1 p.m. with snow accumulations of between 2 and 5 inches here and more in eastern Connecticut.

A strong cold front also is expected to move through Saturday night, with temperatures to dip into the teens, followed by another cold front Sunday where the highs will reach the upper 20s, according to the weather service. There's also a slight chance – about 20 percent – for more snow showers Saturday night and Sunday, though the weather service did not have any predictions for how much might fall.

The storm system is in contrast to the rather uneventful and warmer-than-average temperatures that have dominated this month.

The average temperature this month across the contiguous United States was 36-degrees, the fourth warmest on record with nine states – Arizona, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota and Wyoming – reported record warm January temperatures. Florida and Washington state were the only states to report near normal temperatures for the month.

The warming trend is as a result of the jet stream pattern, according to meteorologists with AccuWeather.com.

"Generally, for the most part of the winter, it has been on a west-to-east pattern," AccuWeather.com Senior Meteorologist Michael Pigott said in a statement. "Meteorologists refer to this as a 'zonal flow.' Essentially, we've seen a lot of storms moving from west to east, and not a lot traveling northward or southward. So, anything in the Arctic is staying up there, and anything in the U.S. is staying put as well. If you have north-to-south undulations in the jet stream, you do get warmer air heading northward to the poles, and colder air comes down toward the U.S. from the Arctic."

In Connecticut, the average temperature for January has been measured at just under 32-degrees, which is the warmest it has been since 2006, and only the 13th warmest on record. NOAA says the record warmest average temperature in Connecticut was in January 1932 when it was 36-degrees.

The State College Pa.-based weather service said to expect shots of cold and mild conditions in February, cooler-than-normal temperatures are expected for later in March, Accuweather.com meteorologist Kristina Pydnowski said.

"The weather wants to balance itself out," she said.