GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Instead of Santa dashing through the snow during last year's Christmas Blizzard, this year Santa may be slogging through the rain as unusually warm, late-December weather will bring high temperatures close to one of the warmer Christmas Days on records.
Top 10 Warmest Christmas Days
The warmest Christmas Day on record occurred in 1982 when the temperature hit a high of 65°. During the afternoon a thunderstorm rumbled through with pea-sized hail! Other years with 50°+ temperatures occurred in 1893, 2019 and 2021.
If we include this year, three of the top five warmest Christmas Days have occurred in the past five years, likely an indication of a continued warming change.
The Set-Up
The upper-level jet stream is bringing warmer and wetter conditions up from the south. This is typical of an El Niño winter with the southern jet stream along the southern U.S., occasionally trending northward, while the polar jet stream stays north, locking up the cold air. This generally leads to a winter with warmer temperatures and less snowfall than average.
Forecast High Temperatures
Forecast high temperatures on Christmas Day across the country show milder temperatures from the Midwest to the East Coast with cooler conditions centered over the Rockies.
Travel Weather for Christmas Week
Travel weather will mainly be impacted by rain, with some snow expected over the Rockies and western high Plains states.
As always you can track West Michigan's weather forecast by watching the 13 ON YOUR SIDE team of meteorologists on WZZM 13.1, our weather network on 13.2, and on the 13+ App on Roku, FireTV and AppleTV.
Chief Meteorologist George Lessens
George is a graduate of Penn State University working for 13 On Your Side for over 42 years. He is a Certified Broadcast Meteorologist (CBM), a thirteen-time MAB® Weathercast Award Winner, two-time EMMY® Award Winner, NATAS® Silver Circle Award Winner, and Weather-Ready Nation® Ambassador.
Contact me at: GeorgeLessens@13OnYourSide.com
Follow me on X/Twitter @glessens and Facebook GeorgeLessensWZZM
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