Ready for a warm Christmas?
Christmas Eve records could also fall in Texas and along the Gulf Coast, and much of the US Midwest will see higher-than-average temperatures, according to Weather.com.
This Christmas the National Weather Service forecasts partly sunny conditions, with a high temperature of 46 degrees and a low of 36.
Between 6 a.m. and noon, when many local youngsters will likely be tearing into gifts, the temperature is expected to rise from 47 degrees to 55 degrees.
The Christmas warm-up follows a month of record-setting temperatures in November.
By day’s end, five NY area locations – including Central Park at 66 degrees, plus LaGuardia and Kennedy airports – had set records.
In Warwick, Harry and Denise Dowling jogged through Goddard Memorial State Park in T-shirts and shorts. It was 70 degrees on Christmas Day in 1982, according to National Weather Service stats.
Taking advantage of the unseasonable weather, a kayaker paddles along the Buffalo River on Thursday, Dec. 24, 2015, in Buffalo, N.Y.
Christmas Eve is mild for Santa!
Not only are we in for a snow-less Christmas, but the temperatures are going to be leaps and bounds above normal. Both items would come in handy normally in late December, but not this year, when temperatures were expected to rise into the 70s on Thursday.
“That cold air is just not making it down … to where it typically can get this time of year”, said Weather Channel meteorologist Chris Warren. “I miss seeing the snow covering the Christmas lights”.
The high temperature of 15.4 C in Toronto just missed the 1964 record by three degrees to be the warmest day in the city since 1840, i.e. the time since meteorologists started tracking temperatures downtown.
A mostly cloudy, cool night is in store, with overnight lows near freezing. Snow is expected on Thursday from the Cascades of Washington State and OR to the Sierra Nevada mountain range of California, as well as areas of the Intermountain West, Weather.com reported.