Christmas Day warm, but temps short of record

In all, more than 60 of the 236 weather observation sites in the mainland United States will be within 3 degrees of their record highs on Christmas Eve, according to The Weather Channel.

New York City hit a record high for Christmas Eve early Thursday morning, reaching 67 degrees Fahrenheit (19 degrees Celsius) to best the previous record of 63 degrees (17 degrees C).

Last-minute shoppers in New York City were greeted with balmy temperatures. This year’s El Niño effect is predicted to be the strongest ever recorded, and coastal communities in California have braced for higher surf and possible flood conditions throughout the coming winter months.

Grand Rapids, Michigan set a daily high temperature record of 59 degrees Fahrenheit as of 6:07 a.m. ET, beating the old record of 58 degrees Fahrenheit, which was set in 1893.

The record highest average temperature and the record for the highest low temperature for December 24 in Poughkeepsie are 48.5 degrees, set in 2003, and 42 degrees, set in 2014.

It is not looking a lot like Christmas as temperatures soared Wednesday to the low 60s, breaking the high temperature record for this date.

Monday: It’s expected to be partly sunny, with a high only near 43 degrees.

El Niño, an irregularly occurring weather event in the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean, is transferring heat stored in the water west to east across the United States while helping deter colder Arctic air, according to Bob Oravec, lead forecaster with the National Weather Service.

Out of 1,630 monthly records, eight months during 2015 were among the 10 highest monthly temperature departures from their respective averages, and all of the months of 2015 to date are among the 25 highest.