More Than 5,600 Daily Records Broken as December Warmth Continues in the East

December 17,2015

A very mild weather pattern by December standards has engulfed a large swath of the Lower 48 states, setting thousands of daily record highs and record-warm lows. The warmth has been so incredible that several cities in the Midwest and Northeast have set daily record highs during the middle of the night or the early morning hours, and several locations have broken all-time highs for the entire month of December.

According to preliminary data from NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI), at least 2,348 record daily highs were tied or broken across the U.S. during the first 15 days of December, representing almost 6 percent of the roughly 40,000 daily high-temperature reports received from more than 3,000 locations. In addition, at least 3,260 record-warm daily lows have occurred.

By comparison, just 93 daily record lows and another 95 daily record cold daily highs were set in the same time frame, most of which were on or before Dec. 5.

(MORE: This Shouldn't Be Happening in December)

December U.S. Record Tally

Temperatures once again soared up to 20 degrees above average Thursday in the East, setting more daily record high temperatures. A brief cooldown will arrive for the weekend, but then the warmth will increase dramatically once again for Christmas week.

(MORE: Widespread Warmth Likely Christmas Week)

First Round of December Warmth Ending

For the western Great Lakes, highs fell back to around average on Thursday. However, several record highs were set on Thursday as the mild weather pattern held on for one more day over the East Coast states.

Forecast Highs vs. Normal

Most East Coast locations will drop back to near normal Friday. In New England, however, highs may remain 10 or more degrees above normal Friday before returning to near average for the weekend.

December Record Highs Broken So Far

Below is a look at the records set so far from this December warmth by day.
Thursday, Dec. 17: Daily record highs were set across the Southeast, including in Daytona Beach, Florida (84 degrees), Melbourne, Florida (86 degrees), Jacksonville, Florida (82 degrees), Myrtle Beach, South Carolina (73 degrees) and Cape Hatteras, North Carolina (75 degrees).
Wednesday, Dec. 16: Daily record highs were reported in parts of the Southeast, including 72 in the Tri-Cities area near Kingsport, Tennessee, breaking the record of 68 from 1971.
Record highs were tied in both Vero Beach and Daytona Beach, Florida (84 degrees); Huntsville, Alabama (73 degrees); and Charleston, West Virginia (70 degrees).
Tuesday, Dec. 15: New York City rose to 68 degrees at 2:03 a.m. EDT, setting a daily record high for Dec. 15. Providence, Rhode Island, reached 64 degrees by 4:50 a.m. which was also a daily record high. Binghamton, New York, started the day by tying its record high of 56 right away at midnight. Philadelphia reached 69 at 1:14 a.m., breaking its daily record high for the fourth day in a row. Trenton, New Jersey, and Wilmington, Delaware, also set their fourth consecutive daily record highs and did so before 2 a.m.
Daily record highs were also set in parts of North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and Florida.
Monday, Dec. 14: Daily record highs were set across the Midwest and East including New York City (67 degrees). Cleveland (65 degrees), Erie, Pennsylvania (69 degrees), Syracuse, New York (66 degrees), Newark, New Jersey (64 degrees), Muskegon, Michigan (59 degrees), Philadelphia (70 degrees), Wilmington, Delaware (66 degrees), Norfolk, Virginia (77 degrees), Raleigh, North Carolina (75 degrees), Knoxville, Tennessee (72 degrees) and Dubuque, Iowa (61 degrees). Buffalo, New York reached 71 degrees which is the second warmest December day on record.
Just like the prior two days, daily record highs were set during the morning hours in some cities. Flint, Michigan, Traverse City, Michigan, and Cleveland, Ohio, were three of the cities that tied or broke daily records in the morning hours.
Sunday, Dec. 13: Daily record highs were observed in Missouri, Iowa, Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, West Virginia, Virginia, Connecticut, South Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida.
In New York City, the daily record of 64 at Central Park was tied before 10 a.m. Record highs were also tied or broken before noon in both Madison and Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Youngstown and Toledo, Ohio; and Newark, New Jersey.

Saturday, Dec. 12: Record-breaking warmth reached much of the eastern third of the country, where daily record highs were set at Tupelo, Mississippi (78 degrees), Cape Hatteras, North Carolina (73 degrees), Paducah, Kentucky (73 degrees), Evansville, Indiana (72 degrees), Salisbury, Maryland (72 degrees), Cleveland, Ohio (70 degrees), Indianapolis, Indiana (70 degrees), Fort Wayne, Indiana (69 degrees), Akron, Ohio (68 degrees), Lexington, Kentucky (68 degrees), Trenton, New Jersey (68 degrees), New York City, LaGuardia Airport (66 degrees), New York City, JFK Airport (64 degrees), and Detroit, Michigan (63 degrees).

Several locations set record highs first thing in the morning. Paducah, Kentucky, reached 68 degrees before 1 a.m. Saturday, quickly breaking their record high for the date before peaking at 73 degrees in the afternoon. Other stations that had already reported record highs by 9 a.m. EST Saturday included Cincinnati and Dayton in Ohio.

Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport set a record warm low temperature for the entire month of December at 70 degrees.

Daily record warm low temperatures for Dec. 12 were set in many other locations including New York City (55 degrees), Newark, New Jersey (48 degrees), Louisville, Kentucky (62 degrees), Paducah, Kentucky (65 degrees), and Columbus, Ohio (56 degrees).

Friday, Dec. 11: Unusually warm weather prevailed across much of the central and eastern U.S., where daily record highs were set at San Angelo, Texas (87 degrees), Houston's Hobby Airport (82 degrees), Wichita Falls, Texas (81 degrees), Shreveport, Louisiana (81 degrees), Mobile, Alabama (78 degrees), Roanoke, Virginia (72 degrees), Rochester, New York (62 degrees) and Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan (47 degrees), among other locations. Record highs were also set in Toronto, Ontario (14 degrees Celsius - 57.2 degrees Fahrenheit) and Ottawa, Ontario (13.5 degrees Celsius - 56.3 degrees Fahrenheit).

Thursday, Dec. 10: More records were broken or tied across the nation's heartland, including daily record highs at Madison, Wisconsin (56 degrees), and Green Bay, Wisconsin (54 degrees). Rockford, Illinois, hit 57 degrees, tying its record high for the date. 

Wednesday, Dec. 9: Record warmth impacted parts of the Plains, where daily record highs included Oklahoma City (74 degrees) and Topeka, Kansas (70 degrees). Minot, North Dakota, hit 62 degrees, tying the daily record and marking its warmest December day since 1939.

Tuesday, Dec. 8: The Northwest saw more record warmth on Tuesday. Seattle-Tacoma Airport set a new daily record high for Dec. 8 of 60 degrees, beating the old record of 59 degrees in 1957. Several other locations in Washington state also set daily record highs, including Spokane, which tied its daily record of 56 degrees. In Oregon, both Portland (62 degrees) and Eugene (62 degrees) set daily record highs Tuesday. 

Several daily record highs for Dec. 8 were also set in the Plains Tuesday, including Minot, North Dakota (54 degrees - tie), Lincoln, Nebraska (61 degrees - tie), and Russell, Kansas (67 degrees).

A number of record warm low temperatures were also set for Dec. 8 on Tuesday. Stanley, Idaho, tied its record for any December day with a balmy low of 35. Others included Livingston, Montana (44 degrees), Billings, Montana (43 degrees), Sheridan, Wyoming (36 degrees), Salem, Oregon (59 degrees), and Eugene, Oregon (57 degrees). Eugene beat its old daily record warm low for Dec. 8 by a whopping 10 degrees.

Monday, Dec. 7: Redmond, Oregon, soared to 71 to set a new all-time record high for the month of December. The previous record was 67 on Dec. 1, 2008. Monday's high also crushed its daily record by a margin of 13 degrees.

Redmond also broke its all-time record-warm daily low for the month of December with a low of 50 Monday, breaking the previous record of 48 set Dec. 10, 2004.

Portland, Oregon, set a new record high of 63 degrees on Monday, as well as a record warm low temperature of 46 degrees. Both of these were recorded at Portland International Airport.

A smattering of record highs also occurred across the northern Rockies and Upper Midwest. Impressively, the Grand Portage Ranger Station in the far northeast corner of Minnesota – with 120 years of weather records in the books – reached 50 degrees, crushing the daily record of 43 and setting an all-time record for its latest 50-degree day on record. The site had only previously reached the 50s on two occasions in December – 51 degrees on Dec. 2, 1962, and 52 degrees two days later.

The appropriately-named town of Max, North Dakota, had its warmest daily low on record for the month of December, only dipping as low as 38. The previous record of 35 had just been set two days earlier; that, in turn, beat the record of 34 from Dec. 29, 1999. Records in Max have been kept for 86 years.

Saturday and Sunday, Dec. 5-6: On Saturday, International Falls tied its record warmest low temperature for the month of December, only dipping to 36 degrees just before midnight. The city set a new daily record high of 45 degrees on Sunday.

The cooperative observer near Ladysmith, Wisconsin, reported a high of 46 Sunday – crushing the daily record of 40 in an impressive 114-year period of recordkeeping.

An additional fourteen daily record highs were set in Manitoba Saturday and Sunday, including Emerson (7.1 degrees Celsius/44.8 degrees Fahrenheit on Sunday) where records date back to 1877.

In Oregon, Redmond hit 63 and Roseburg hit 61, both daily record highs for Saturday. Redmond hit 63 again Sunday, setting another daily record.

Friday, Dec. 4: At least 16 Canadian cities set daily record highs, particularly in Manitoba, where the city of Morden, southwest of Winnipeg, soared to 14.2 degrees Celsius (about 57.6 degrees Fahrenheit).

Highs reached the freezing mark as far north as Thompson, Manitoba on Friday (roughly 55 degrees North latitude, about 470 miles north of Winnipeg). The average high on December 4 there is -13.8 C (7.1 F). Just a bit farther northeast of there on Saturday, Gillam, Manitoba, reached the freezing mark which also was a new daily record (0.3 C / 32.5 F).

In the U.S., both Marquette, Michigan (50 degrees at the NWS office in nearby Negaunee Township), and International Falls, Minnesota (45 degrees), tied their daily record highs Friday.

Thursday, Dec. 3: Only a few record highs were set at places with long-term records. Three were in Florida, including 85 at Fort Lauderdale Beach; one was in Washington, where Bellingham hit 62.

Wednesday, Dec. 2: Charleston, South Carolina, and Wilmington, North Carolina, each hit 80 degrees to break daily record highs. On the opposite side of the country, a high of 60 was good for a daily record in Bellingham, Washington.

Tuesday, Dec. 1: A handful of locations in Florida and south Alabama set daily records, including a high of 89 near Avon Park, Florida, where records have been kept for 121 years.

What Effects Will This Warmth Have?

As a result of the jet stream staying north of the U.S. frequently throughout November, parts of the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic have remained rather mild and snowless recently. Philadelphia saw its second warmest November on record in 2015, and made it through the autumn to the start of December without a freeze for the first time since 1939.

For Buffalo, New York, it was the seventh warmest November on record. Buffalo has also yet to see accumulating snowfall this season, marking the longest the city has gone in a snow season without receiving its first measurable snow.

(MORE: Still No Snow in Buffalo)

The lack of snowfall and nights below 32 degrees means a tough start for ski resorts in parts of New England and the Appalachians. Over the Great Lakes, on the heels of record late-season ice into spring 2015, lake ice formation may be significantly delayed.

Interestingly enough, a delay in freezing of the lakes could support a later lake-effect snow season, as colder air moving over warmer lake water can lead to the development of heavy snow bands into early winter. This, however, depends on the ability of substantial moisture to coincide with sufficient cold air, something that has struggled to happen so far this season.

(PHOTOS: November 2014 Lake Effect Snow Buries South Buffalo)

It is not just the northeastern quarter of the country that has escaped the bulk of winter’s fury to date. 

Florida, in particular, has been on quite a stretch for above normal temperatures. In November, Naples and Fort Lauderdale recorded their warmest November on record. For Miami and West Palm Beach, it was their second warmest November on record.

Fargo, North Dakota has reached 40 degrees or higher on 260 days so far in 2015. Dating back to 1942, the record is 261 days in 2012, but December 2015 could push them over the edge before the month is over.

As of Tuesday, both Minot, North Dakota and International Falls, Minnesota had experienced their warmest first week of December on record.

What About Last Winter?

December 2014 was also a warmer than average month for much of the country. Despite that happening, winter took a fast turnaround in parts of the Northeast.

The pattern changed very quickly in the winter of 2014-15 with record-setting snows hitting parts of New England in January in February.

(MORE: Record New England Snowfall in 2014-15)

There are some differences between this winter and last winter, particularly with the strong El Nino currently in place. 

Regardless, weather patterns are bound to change at some point, so check back regularly with weather.com for the latest information.

MORE: December Destinations