PHOENIX — What winter?

People in Southern California and Phoenix were sunning themselves in 80-degree weather, even as northeastern states struggled to recover from this week’s snow and ice storms.

Friday saw a trend of unusually warm temperatures continue in the Southwest, sending people to beaches and golf courses in droves.

The region is known for pleasant weather this time of year, but the National Weather Service said the temps are uncharacteristically hot for mid-February — the result of a high-pressure system off the coast of Southern California.

In the Phoenix area, the many Midwestern retirees and visitors who flock to the desert each winter were thrilled about the 80-degree days — and not being in the miserable cold back home.

Rocky Krizan, a Chisago City, Minn., retiree who spends his winters in the Phoenix area, said his daughter and two grandchildren just arrived from Minnesota and were stunned by the difference.

“When they left there at 5 o’clock in the morning, it was minus 24. That’s actual temperature and wind chill,” he said.

By 11 a.m. in Phoenix, they were at the pool in mid-70s temperatures.

But not everyone in the region is celebrating the sunshine. The Southwest is in the throes of a severe drought that has seen cities like Phoenix go nearly two months without any noticeable precipitation, and farmers and managers of the region’s water supply would gladly see a dose of heavy rain instead of the blue skies.

President Barack Obama visited California’s Central Valley on Friday to meet with local leaders about a drought that is the state’s worst in more than a century. The president announced about $173 million in federal financial aid to the state.

On the other side of the country, frigid cold has paralyzed the East Coast and left more than 1 million homes in the South without power. At least 21 deaths have been blamed on the treacherous weather, including that of pregnant woman struck by a mini-snowplow in New York City.