Record warmth to end December

You don’t have to be a meteorologist to know temperatures have been abnormally warm for what the Miami Valley would typically experience at the end of December. But, how warm? Let me tell you.

It all started on Christmas Day when temperatures climbed into the lower 60s. There’s only been four other times that temperatures reach the 60s on Christmas day.

The record for the warmest Christmas was set in 1893 with a high of 65 degrees. This year temperatures reached 61 degrees at the Dayton International Airport. While not record breaking, it now goes down in the history books at the 5th warmest Christmas for Dayton.

Christmas Day was also a very wet one compared to history. A total of 0.59 inches of rain fell this year on Christmas, making it the forth wettest of all-time. The wettest Christmas Day still stands at 0.82 inches set in 1957.

Let’s jump ahead to now December 27, 2021. Temperatures once again push well above normal with a high in the middle 60s. The official high for the day of 66 degrees ties the previous record set in 2015.

Looking ahead into the New Year, there appears to be pattern change with temperatures dropping back to normal levels with highs in the 30s.

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