TURNING WARM & WET WEEK OF CHRISTMAS

The official start to winter brought COLDER temperatures, but the cool down is brief. A pattern change as we approach Christmas will usher in very mild weather for late December. The pattern change will remain through the rest of December with temperatures much WARMER than average. Temperatures between Christmas Day and New Years Day will approach 60.

The pattern that will bring us the warmer weather will be very active. Up to five separate storm systems are likely to develop in the middle of the country through the end of the year.

System #1: December 24-25

System #2: December 27

System #3: December 28

System #4: December 31

Over the next 10 days, 2-3" of rainfall are possible with these systems in total. Temperatures will remain warm enough, so at this point, I'm not eyeing any snow chances through the end of 2024.

Heading into 2025, there will be some changes on the horizon. The North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), a pattern that describes changes in the strength of two recurring patterns in the atmosphere over the North Atlantic will head into a "negative phase". When the NOA goes into a negative phase, cold weather is favored over the eastern half of the U.S. Long-range modeling favors this occurring in the first few days of January.

The first half of January could be very COLD in Southern Illinois. Will that result in snow? It's too early to know, but it will bring a better chance than we've seen so far this winter.