Warm temperatures carrying into Christmas Day

People in and around Franklin County received a Christmas gift they may or may not have wanted: Record-breaking warm weather.

Forecast highs from National Weather Service.

“We’re flirting with incredibly high temperatures as it is”, said meteorologist James Carpenter, National Weather Service, Charleston.

As of earlier this week, this month alone saw more than 2,600 record-high temperatures – and many more are expected before the new year.

In many places, forecast highs are 30 to 40 degrees warmer than normal – with temperatures more characteristic of May than December.

On Thursday, temperatures across the region soared into the 70s, with Central Park’s 72-degree peak smashing the previous record of 63 degrees set in 1996.

High temperatures will likely fall following December 25, but not to normally-cold December conditions, according to AccuWeather Meteorologist Ed Vallee.

Snow levels are expected as low as 3,000 to 3,500 feet in the morning with an accumulation of about one inch in the valley’s foothills.

“Although white Christmases seem fairly common in OH, it’s not as much of a slam dunk as it might seem”, Sefcovic said.

Have a Merry Christmas Eve and Christmas Day! “Whatever we want to call December’s freakishly warm weather, whatever we’re tempted to call the punishing cold and snow that could follow, we ought not to leave out the global warming propping it all up”.

In Ottawa, the high hit 16.7 C, making it the second hottest day ever recorded there in December, Environment Canada said. High temperatures Monday (low 30s) will be right where we should be for this time of year.

Moreover, he said that an atmospheric phase known as positive North Atlantic Oscillation (+NAO) is responsible for the current mild pattern in the Eastern U.S.

Weather experts attribute the balmy holiday temperatures to air flowing up the East Coast from the tropics.

Of course there is still about a week to go in the month, but all the signs point to more warm weather until the end of the year.