Christmas Day saw record-breaking temperatures for the tri-state area, as the mercury crept to a balmy 66 degrees shortly after midnight Friday, eclipsing the 33-year-old record by two degrees.
Revelers flocked to the Rockefeller Center tree as the sun rose Friday, donning nothing more than light jackets, if any. It was the second day of record-breaking temperatures; the mercury hit 72 on Christmas Eve, shattering the previous record of 63 degrees set in 1996.
The warm weather Friday was accompanied by dense fog. Much of Christmas Day was dry, but Storm Team 4 expected wet weather to roll into the region Christmas night.
Rain is likely again Saturday into Saturday night ahead of the next storm system, and temperatures Saturday are expected to be more seasonable, lingering in the low 50s.
The climate is expected to change once again Sunday, when another day of record warmth is likely, with temperatures expected to reach 66 degrees.
The seesaw pattern appears likely to calm down early next week, according to Storm Team 4. Temperatures are expected to top out at 45 degrees Monday, and then climb no higher than the low 50s Tuesday through Thursday.
Thus far, this New York City December has been 13.1 degrees above normal and is on pace to be the warmest December ever in the city, according to Storm Team 4. The average temperature this month has been 51.6 degrees. The current record is 44.1 degrees for the month set in 2001.
The record-warm December would follow up a record-warm November for New York City.
