In the next few days people around the world will gear up for the holiday season’s last hurrah, the turning of the old year to the new. Fireworks aficionados in particular can look forward to the biggest shows of the year lighting up skies above many of the world’s major metropolises. But how well will Mother Nature cooperate?
A mild Christmas has given way into a snowy weekend for the Southern High Plains as a major winter storm makes its way across New Mexico, western Texas and Oklahoma. Residents and holiday travelers in southeast New Mexico and the panhandle of Texas should prepare for heavy snow and blizzard conditions Saturday night in New Mexico and continuing for some in Oklahoma and Texas until early Monday morning.
Albuquerque, New Mexico and El Paso, Texas should expect a disruptive snow that will hamper travel, while farther to the east cities such as Amarillo, Lubbock, and Midland, Texas will face more extreme wintry conditions which will likely shut down some roads for a time. Total snow fall could reach over a foot from Amarillo to Lubbock, while in Albuquerque and El Paso snow totals will vary anywhere from 3-6 inches with locally higher amounts.
White out conditions, strong winds and drifting snow will make travel extremely hazardous and even life threatening across eastern New Mexico and western Texas on Sunday. Take caution when making travel plans and check out the Morecast Navigation option to plan the safest time to hit the roads after the holiday weekend.
Kids who unwrap ski boots and poles this Christmas morning in the Northeast US may ask their parents what Santa could possibly have been thinking sending these unfamiliar objects down the chimney. Mountain resorts across New England that are normally packed around Christmas are eerily deserted this year, brown and dreary instead of bright and white after one of the warmest and least snowy Decembers on record.
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Above average high temperatures in the 60s and 70s are forecast for much of the eastern half of the US on Christmas Eve into Christmas Day. This will shatter previous record high temperatures dating back to the 1960s for many cities. The following chart will show which cities could shatter record high temperatures:
* Bold indicates tied or broken record high temperature
| City & State |
12/24/15 High Temp |
12/25/15 High Temp |
Record High for 12/24 | Record High for 12/25 |
| Boston, MA | 66F | 60F | 61F in 1996 | 60F in 1964 |
| New York, NY | 71F | 65F | 63F in 1996 | 54F in 1982 |
| Philadelphia, PA | 74F | 70F | 64F in 2014 | 68F in 1964 |
| Washington, DC | 76F | 71F | 66F in 1982 | 72F in 1964 |
| Norfolk, VA | 77F | 72F | 74F in 1990 | 75F in 1964 |
| Raleigh, NC | 78F | 73F | 73F in 1988 | 75F in 1955 |
| Atlanta, GA | 74F | 73F | 72F in 1984 | 72F in 1987 |