We're dreaming of a 'blowtorch' Christmas
Santa won't be able to hide his arrival under a cover of snow this year due to record high Christmas temperatures, according to a Weather.com report Tuesday. Cities in the eastern and central United States can expect to experience the warmest Christmas Eve and Day on record.
This warm pattern—jokingly referred to as "blowtorch weather"—is holding hot air from the Pacific and Tropics while keeping the winds of winter away. The playful nickname refers to the fire-like impression the red, white, orange and yellow "scorch" marks present on meteorological maps. Temperatures are expected to rise between 10 and thirty degrees this weekend alone.
Those expecting sunny skies and beach weather, however, are in for a rude awakening. A combination of low pressure systems and moisture from the Gulf of Mexico will result in clouds and rain. Those traveling for the holiday may still encounter delays on the roads and in the air. The rising of dew point values will make the weather more humid as well, increasing the chance of severe thunderstorms.
More than 2,000 daily temperature record highs were reported, broken and tied this month in the first 20 days. The warm weather has been noted as far north as Maine and as south as Florida.
Get the full report from Weather.com here.