With lots of warm air still in place in late December, record highs could be broken in many towns and cities in New Jersey, New York and eastern Pennsylvania.
The warm December air keeps on flowing in to New Jersey and other eastern states, putting lots of temperature records on the verge of being broken -- not only on Christmas Eve, but also on Wednesday.
Among the records being watched by the National Weather Service on Wednesday are those for the daily highs on Dec. 23 in Atlantic City (65 degrees), Trenton (70 degrees) and Philadelphia (66 degrees).
The weather service sees a greater likelihood of broken records on Thursday, expected to be the warmest day of the week, with highs reaching the low 70s -- about 30 degrees above the normal high for late December.
Among the record highs that have a good shot at being broken on Christmas Eve are Atlantic City's record of 65 (set in 1982), Newark's record of 64 (set in 1990), New York City's record of 63 (set in 1996), Trenton's record of 63 (set in 1990 and 2014) and Philadelphia's record of 64 (set in 1990 and 2014).
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If the temperatures soar into the mid- or upper 70s on Thursday, many towns and cities across the Northeast will not only break their record highs for Dec. 24 but their all-time highs for any December day.
The warmest temperatures ever recorded in December was 77 in Atlantic City, 76 in Newark, 76 in Trenton and 73 in Philadelphia, according to the National Weather Service. Of all those cities, Philly has the best shot at breaking its December record.
Record warmth potential Wednesday, December 23rd and likely on Thursday, December 24th. The graphic has the details. pic.twitter.com/kCDfuCpkJQ
-- NWS Mount Holly (@NWS_MountHolly) December 22, 2015
WARMEST DECEMBER ON RECORD?
Last week, New Jersey State Climatologist David Robinson at Rutgers University said the Garden State was on track to possibly having its warmest December on record. He is now saying this: "It will absolutely, positively be a record for the month."
Robinson's projection is based on the continued wave of warm air flowing in from the west and the south, keeping average temperatures far above normal.
The normal average temperature (the mean between the average high and the average low) in December in New Jersey is 35.6 degrees.
The warmest on record was in 2006, when the Garden State averaged 42.2 degrees, followed by 2001, when the state averaged 41.7 degrees.
DENSE FOG ADVISORY
The dense fog that has been hovering over much of New Jersey this morning will be sticking around for most of the day, prompting the National Weather Service to issue a dense fog advisory through 6 p.m. Wednesday.
The advisory affects these counties: Atlantic, Burlington, Cape May, Cumberland, Hunterdon, Monmouth, Middlesex, Morris, Ocean, Salem, Somerset, Sussex and Warren.
Len Melisurgo may be reached at LMelisurgo@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @LensReality. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
