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Holiday weather whipsaw: From record ‘low high’ Christmas Eve to near record warmth New Year’s Day

New Year’s Day is forecast to reach 62 degrees — just short of the record high of 64 for the day set in 2005.

Glenn Elliott and his Labrador retriever “Dude” watch people ice skate at the Dilworth Park ice rink on Dec. 25. Though Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were bitter cold, a big warmup is on the way for New Year's Day.
Glenn Elliott and his Labrador retriever “Dude” watch people ice skate at the Dilworth Park ice rink on Dec. 25. Though Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were bitter cold, a big warmup is on the way for New Year's Day.Read moreJose F. Moreno / Staff Photographer

The Philadelphia region faces an unusual extreme weather swing that began with a brutal low Christmas Eve and could end with a near-record high as the Mummers strut on Broad Street.

Consider:

  1. Christmas Eve, Dec. 24, reached only 18 degrees marking a record “low high” for that day.

  2. New Year’s Day, Jan. 1, is forecast to reach 62, just shy of a record high of 64 for the day set in 2005.

  3. Overall, that would be a difference of 44 degrees between the highs for the two days.

Though it will be unusually warm for the Mummers Parade, it could be a bit damp, according to the National Weather Service forecast.

» READ MORE: Mummers Parade 2023 guide: How to watch, road closures, and more

“The fact that we’re going from a stretch where we have seen some of our coldest air in a few years to approaching near record daily highs within the course of a week is notable,” said Alex Dodd, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service’s Mount Holly office.

Dodd said, however, that big swings are not unusual during a La Niña weather pattern, which is dominated by cold ocean temperatures in the equatorial Pacific.

The recent local arctic blast, Dodd said, was the result of a low pressure system that started in the west and moved east. The “exceptionally deep storm system,” he said, is the same one that brought a lethal blizzard to Buffalo and a frigid Christmas weekend to Philly.

“That system is finally weakening,” Dodd said.

It will be followed over the next few days by a high pressure system moving in from the Southern plains and should result in fair weather most of the week.

Dodd said there is a possibility of rain New Year’s Eve or New Year’s Day. However, he said, that is far out enough that the forecast could change. That also makes it possible temperatures could flirt with record highs, though as of now they are likely to fall short.

The forecast for the week:

For Monday, the forecast calls for a high of about 31 and an overnight low of 21.

The thaw begins Tuesday with a high of 37 degrees.

Then the days gradually get warmer with a forecast high of 52 for Friday.

Saturday, New Year’s Eve, brings a chance of showers with a high of 57.

New Year’s Day should reach into the low 60s, with a chance of rain nearing 50%.