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Christmas brings warmth to East

Posted at 6:53 PM, Dec 25, 2015
and last updated 2015-12-25 18:53:36-05

(CNN) -- That deep warm feeling on Christmas Day wasn't just from the glow of the season -- for much of the country, it was from some unusually warm temperatures outside.

After a quick burst of cool air last weekend, the mercury continued on its way up again over much of the East.

It's another chapter in what has been an incredibly warm December over much of the Eastern United States -- a pattern that some meteorologists have coined the "blowtorch."

As of earlier this week, this month alone saw more than 2,600 record-high temperatures -- and many more are expected before the new year.

Major metropolitan areas in the Northeast are seeing some of the warmest Christmas Days on record.

The normal high on Christmas in New York's Central Park is 41 degrees Fahrenheit. The record-high temperature there was broken long before sunrise on Christmas Day this year. The previous record was 64 degrees in 1982. By 2:12 a.m. Friday, the temperature was 66 -- and rising.

These unusual temperatures are likely to stick around through next week.

The record warmth is not only confined to the I-95 corridor. Record highs are expected from Texas, through the Gulf Coast, mid-Atlantic and even New England. Almost all of Florida is in the 80s, and the 70-degree line is reaching as far north as Washington.

Not only are the daytime temperatures warm, but the nighttime lows in many locations also are running 10 degrees above the normal daily high temperature.

Some meteorologists are pointing to El Niño as the primary cause of the higher-than-average temperatures.

The warming ocean waters in the tropical Pacific alter the weather patterns around the globe.

Not only is the United States seeing record temperatures this month, but much of Europe is warm as well. It was nearly 50 degrees in Moscow this week, with puddles, not ice, surrounding the Kremlin.

The higher-than-normal temperatures are forecast to continue for most of the northern half of the United States through the rest of the winter, according to the latest forecast from the Climate Prediction Center.

But what's going on in the United States can't be attributed to El Niño alone. There's a high-pressure ridge over the East Coast that is causing the warm temperatures. Meanwhile, on the West Coast, there's a low-pressure trough and plenty of snow coming down. Snow in much of the Northwest is above normal already. Even the Sierras in California, which are in the fourth year of a record drought, are well on their way to normal snowfall this year.

There's also a blizzard watch in western Texas, and the clashing of cold and warm air is what's behind some of the severe weather.

What will all of this mean for travel in the days ahead?

AAA projects year-end holiday travel will exceed 100 million people this year, which would be a record.

For the weekend, a new storm takes shape for the Plains, along with colder temperatures. There could be snow and ice from the Texas Panhandle north to Kansas and Missouri. Rain and storms continue from Chicago to New Orleans, and rain will cause minor delays for the major Northeast hubs.

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