Charlotte breaks 70-year-old record with warmest Christmas ever. Big changes loom
After an overnight visit from Santa, children across the Charlotte region didn’t need to bundle up to play with their new gifts outside. Instead of heavy coats, many likely wore short sleeves as the area experienced its warmest Christmas on record.
The temperature reached a record-breaking 79 degrees at Charlotte Douglas International Airport on Dec. 25, according to the National Weather Service. This beat the previous high of 77 degrees, set back in 1955 during the first Eisenhower administration.
The region’s temperature was 26 degrees above the normal high for Christmas Day, which is around 53 degrees, according to meteorologist Jeffrey Taylor of the Greenville-Spartanburg, South Carolina Weather Forecast Office.
A broad regional pattern of above-normal temperatures across the Southeast brought the unseasonable warmth.
Friday’s expected high temperature of around 60 degrees marked a cooldown from Thursday. But residents should expect a seesaw weather pattern, with a 20-plus-degree drop expected by early next week as the region returns to typical winter conditions.
Temperatures will climb to around 74 degrees on Saturday before settling near 70 degrees at the start of the week on Monday.
A major cold front arrives Tuesday, plunging highs to the mid-40s, or about a 35-degree drop in temperatures from Christmas Day Thursday. By next Wednesday through Friday, temperatures will be closer to seasonal normals, ranging from 48 degrees to 53 degrees.
