Springlike warmth to begin on Christmas Day across southeastern US

By Brett Rathbun, AccuWeather meteorologist

December 23,2016, 1:27:38PM,EST

It will feel more like Easter than Christmas for the second straight year across the southeastern United States.

Temperatures will be 10-20 degrees Fahrenheit above normal.
“Warm air will pump northward from the Gulf of Mexico ahead of a Christmas Day storm, which will cause temperatures to skyrocket,” AccuWeather Meteorologist Renee Duff said.

“Temperatures will rise to levels more typical of early April from Christmas Day into early next week,” Duff said.
Atlanta; Charlotte, North Carolina; Montgomery, Alabama; Jackson, Mississippi; and Pensacola, Florida; are just some of the cities that will challenge record highs on one or more days. Most locations will fall shy of records.
Throughout the Christmas holiday last year, much of the Southeastern states basked in record warmth. Atlanta set a record high five days in a row from Dec. 24 to Dec. 27, reaching the mid- to upper 70s. This year will be no different.
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This stretch of warm air will continue into the new week.
At the peak of the warmth, highs will range from the 70s from the Carolinas and the Gulf Coast to the 80s across much of Florida.

Cooler air will bring a brief pause to the warmth across parts of the region by midweek.
“A push of cooler air will make significant progress south and eastward during the last few days of December,” Duff said. “This will cause temperatures to drop to more seasonable levels in some northern locations.”