The warmest Christmas Eve the East Coast has ever seen is shattering records

December 2015 – CLIMATE – The world’s hottest year is ending in the most fitting manner possible: with one of the most significant heat waves on record for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. The heat extends more than 1,500 miles, from South Florida northward to eastern Canada, and is being described on social media — in non-technical terminology — as a “blowtorch” weather pattern. Or, in the words of a meteorologist at the National Weather Service forecast office in Portland, Maine: “It is safe to say Santa should wear Bermuda shorts this year.” As of Thursday afternoon, at least one all-time December high temperature record had been broken, with a high of 68 degrees Fahrenheit (so far) in Burlington, Vermont. In addition, at least two dozen daily record high temperatures had already been broken, including in New York City, which hit 71 degrees Fahrenheit.

Temperatures on Thursday and Friday will make a run at numerous all-time December high temperature records, along with record-warm overnight low temperatures. We’ll be tracking the records as they fall on Thursday and Friday. In total, computer model projections show that more than 75 out of the 236 “first-order” weather observing sites in the lower 48 states will be within striking distance of a record high temperature on Christmas Eve, with slightly fewer locations in the same situation on Christmas Day. The unusual heat is spread out across more than two dozen states, and is helping to fuel severe thunderstorms that have spawned deadly tornadoes. In New York, the forecast high temperature of 74 degrees on Thursday is just 1 degree Fahrenheit shy of the actual high temperature on July 4, 2015, the National Weather Service said.

The low temperature in New York on Christmas morning should be above 50 degrees Fahrenheit, which was the warmest on record for the date. And according to Weather.com, if Washington, D.C. fails to see temperatures dip below 59 degrees Fahrenheit on Christmas Day, the city will establish a new all-time December record for the warmest low temperature. Even as far north as Montreal, Canada, the temperature was a balmy 70 F. –Mashable