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.
Zemarion Fuentes, 13, right, and his brother, Camp Wallace, 5, play football in their front yard in Charlotte, on Friday, Dec. 26. The region broke a temperature record on Christmas Day, reaching nearly 80 degrees. KHADEJEH NIKOUYEH [email protected]
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.
Zemarion Fuentes, 13, right, teaches his brother, Camp Wallace, 5, how to make the Heisman pose with a football in their front yard in Charlotte. The city broke a 70-year-old Christmas Day temperature record by reaching 79 degrees. KHADEJEH NIKOUYEH [email protected]
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Chase Jordan
The Charlotte Observer
Chase Jordan is a business reporter for The Charlotte Observer, and has nearly a decade of experience covering news in North Carolina. Prior to joining the Observer, he was a growth and development reporter for the Wilmington StarNews. The Kansas City native is a graduate of Bethune-Cookman University.
