Short sleeves on Christmas? That’s right. You might want to pull out some spring outfits if you’re spending the holiday in metro Atlanta.
It’s “gonna be one of our warmest Christmas Days on record,” Channel 2 Action News meteorologist Brian Monahan said. “(You) might be wearing shorts. … That is how warm it is going to be.”
High temperatures will steadily climb each day this week, from the upper 50s and 60s on Monday and Tuesday to the low 70s by Christmas Eve and Day. That is nearly 20 degrees above the average 55-degree high for this time of year — not the best weather for sipping hot chocolate by the fire, at least not comfortably.
With projected highs of 72 and 73 degrees Wednesday and Thursday, it’s Atlanta’s warmest holiday in nearly a decade, according to National Weather Service data. It will also be Atlanta’s eighth Christmas with temps above 70 degrees since record-keeping began in 1878.
The last time Christmas Day temps reached the 70s was in 2016, when highs rose to 74 as families gathered. The record for Christmas Eve — 73 — was set that year, too.
Christmas Day’s 75-degree record high was set in 2015.
We may not break records this year, but we’ll be close. It “should be our second-warmest Christmas Day,” Monahan said.
The great news for fans of milder weather is that the unusual heat is expected to stay with us through the end of the year.
“All the cold air, it’s bottled up in Canada,” Monahan explained. A strong area of high pressure over the Gulf is keeping temperatures up, he said. It’s similar to the system that kept any Atlantic hurricanes from making U.S. landfall this year.
High pressure also means not much rain is in the forecast. Some isolated locations could see a few sprinkles in far North Georgia, the Weather Service says.
The lack of rain will make for great travel weather, though you might not want to be stuck in a car on such unusually warm December days. But you’d be in good company. With gas prices averaging $2.74 per gallon — 17 cents lower than last year — more than 3 million Georgians are expected to hit the roads for holiday celebrations, according to the AAA auto club.
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