Providence breaks last years’ high-temperature record

Kathy Willens/AP Wearing shorts and a T-shirt, Louise Twining-Ward walks past a Christmas tree at Brooklyn’s Grand Army Plaza arch on Christmas Eve.

Jack Frost wasn’t anywhere around this year, let alone “nipping at your nose”, as “The Christmas Song” goes.

It was 70 degrees on Christmas Day in 1982, according to National Weather Service stats.

Christmas Day: Mostly sunny, with a high near 58. That set a new record high minimum temperature for December 24 – that is to say, the mildest low temperature ever recorded for that date. Tuesday it’s back to shower chances, with afternoon temperatures back near 50 degrees.

In Chambersburg, the story is almost exact.

“Over the past 115 (including 1900) Christmases in Detroit, 54 (47%) have been what would be called “white” with an inch or better of snow on the ground”, wrote National Weather Service historian William Deedler.

These holiday temperatures are about 20 degrees above normal, and are more indicative of late spring and early summer.

Days are expected to get colder, however, with temperatures hovering around freezing starting Sunday.

Seto said mountain areas at high elevations could see between two and five inches of snow.

The forecast is calling for a daytime high of 8C and a low of 1C, a jump from an average high of 3C and low of -1C.

Other cities that have set record highs Thursday, to name just a few, include Charlotte, N.C., Salisbury, Md., Providence, R.I., Boston, Mass., and Buffalo, N.Y.

“This combination of rain, snow and wind will make for potentially hazardous conditions for holiday travel”, the outlook said.

Today’s temperatures in the Los Angeles area are expected to range from the mid 50s to lower 60s and drop into the lower and mid 40s overnight. “That will continue, although we will have slightly more seasonal temperatures Friday and into the weekend”. The high Thursday was 72 degrees.

Today: Expect a high between 62 and 66 degrees. High pressure over Bermuda is acting like pump, circulating air westward across the tropical Atlantic, then north up the East Coast.