I'm dreaming of a "warm" Christmas
Not like the ones I used to know
Where the trees sway in the breeze
And children flee...
To play outside in the sun, oh, the sun
Oh wait, that is not how that song is supposed to go...
But that is sure how the week of Christmas is looking to load for us in Kansas City!
The chance of a White Christmas in KC this year isn't promising. In fact, it's looking quite warm from coast to coast. Temperatures on Christmas Day are trending toward the upper 50s, while the 60s are still a possibility. We might compete with some previous warm Christmas Days! pic.twitter.com/haoNnjKwBC
— Lindsey Anderson (@lnanderson) December 17, 2024
Before we get to that, let's talk about the rest of this week first!
We've got a warm front loading as we enjoy our second 50-degree day today, but a cold front will bring us a bit of a reality check tomorrow.
We may even shake out a few sprinkles tonight. Overall, we are talking less than 0.10" of rain for those east of Kansas City.
Then, since we've liked the 50s so much this week, we're going to grab one more nice day on Thursday before a stronger cold front arrives Friday.
As we look ahead to our next cold snap, it looks like the coldest air will hug Thursday night into Friday, and then by Saturday, we start a nice warming trend.
While many are looking ahead to Saturday as the last regular season home game for the Chiefs, it is also the first day of winter, which doesn't mean much besides more daylight loading!
The temperature trend will technically be on a warming trend by Saturday.
The warming trend coming next week could be intense, so the game preview honestly looks pretty nice for the Chiefs-Texans game.
We are expecting temps near 40° for kickoff with no real prevalent weather.
So about next week...
The weather trend next week is showing signs that a large ridge of high pressure will build across the U.S., bringing above-average temperatures to just about everyone from coast to coast.
Across the Great Plains, we are tracking temperatures 10-20° above normal for this time of year.
That means a 60-degree Christmas isn't completely out of the realm of possibility.
So let's talk a little about climate. Normal for Dec. 25 is 40°, and we've only ever hit 60° on Christmas Day in Kansas City nine times.
Last year ended up as our wettest Christmas, but it was chilly at 40°.
This year, we may push into the top 10 warmest Christmases in KC history.
Top 10 Warmest Christmases
- 67°: 1922
- 66°: 2019 & 1899
- 65°: 2016, 1950 & 1936
- 64°: 1960 & 1954
- 63°: 1971
- 58°: 1959
- 57°: 2021 & 1963
- 56°: 1946, 1931 & 1929
- 55°: 1938
- 54°: 1940
So yeah, it might be time to start rewriting your favorite Christmas songs to include some warmth.
But in glass-half-full news, I know with school closed next week for many kiddos, they will at least have a lot of outside time :).
Now, when it comes to storm chances, it isn't all that clear. We are watching some iffy setups for Monday into Tuesday (Dec. 23-24) and possibly something right after Christmas.
Come back for more on that as the precipitation signal becomes more clear!
As of now, the temperature signal is pretty clear we will be warm for Saint Nick and to kick off Hanukkah.
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