Happy Spring! er Winter! +Merry Torchmas

Happy Winter! Wait I already said that like 3 weeks ago... and then spring happened. Well December 1st marked the start of meteorological winter. The winter solstice (Dec 22 this year) marks the start of winter winter. However, the warmth is still not budging. After like 3 whole days of normal temperatures (Last Friday, Saturday, and Sunday), we have gone back to torching.

The pattern is remarkably predictable and consistent and just insanely warm. The Christmas Forecast I made last week still holds other than an upwards adjustment in temperatures. Temperatures will be in the 70s and may even approach 80 in spots with more clearing.

Date	Forecast Max/Min	Normal Max/Min	Records Challenged	Max/Min  Departure
12/24/2015	75/56	45/31	High Max 69(1933)	+30/+24
12/25/2015	67/51	44/31	High Min 49(1987)	+23/+20
12/26/2015	59/51	44/31	High Min 52 (1982)	+15/+20

High sky cover on the 24th may keep temperature down if it is thicker than expected.

We will probably break the record high on Christmas Eve (Thursday) before the cold front passes through in the evening. Temperatures will drop behind the front but will remain 15-20 degrees above normal. We also have chances to set record high minimum temperatures on the 24th (58), 25th (49) and 26th (52). With the warmth comes moisture and instability. There is a chance for gusty showers and perhaps even a thunderstorm during the day on the 24th ahead of the front. Any severe weather here would be extremely unlikely and unprecedented.

For now temperatures will likely stay warm for the rest of the year to place December 2015 as the warmest on record. After the New Year, there is hope that the miserably warm weather will go away. I'd like the plants to stay asleep in the ground right now anyway. I wish you a Merry Torchmas.