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 |
A strong low pressure system will bring a cold front, cooler temperatures, and windy weather in its wake. The winds are expected to pick up after the cold frontal passage around 6pm CST/7pm EST this evening and persist through the overnight hours until 4am CST/5am EST for a large portion of the Great Lakes Region. People in locations such as Rockford, Chicago, Milwaukee, Green Bay, Grand Rapids, and Lansing should pay particular attention to loose outdoor Christmas decorations and other loose objects during this event. Wind gusts of 45-55 mph are possible with the highest gusts for communities immediately along the lakeshore or in wind-prone areas.
A round of severe thunderstorms with damaging wind, large hail, and several tornadoes is expected this afternoon and evening from southern Arkansas northward to southern Illinois and Indiana. Metropolitan areas such as Memphis and Nashville, Tennessee, Louisville, Kentucky, Indianapolis, Indiana, and Cincinnati, Ohio are at risk for a round of dangerous storms.
The greatest risk for a few tornadoes will reside from southeastern Arkansas northward to Memphis and Nashville, Tennessee, and up toward Paducah, Kentucky through the early evening hours. Damaging winds greater than 60 mph are possible in many of the thunderstorms that develop, with the strongest storms bringing localized gusts in excess of 80 mph.
Travel delays, both on the ground and in the air, are likely as the dangerous storms cross the region. Interstates that are at risk of being impacted by severe storms include: I-24, I-40, I-55, I-65, and I-69.
This pre-Christmas severe weather outbreak is due to a strengthening area of low pressure moving towards the western Great Lakes with a cold front that extends southward into a record warm and humid air mass.
The threat for severe storms will end by later this evening as precipitation shifts off to the east.