Sunday’s cold front swept away a truly remarkable period of Christmas heat. Temperatures crashed Sunday afternoon from highs in the 70s to readings in the 20s by evening. But the cold came late enough for another round of record highs to be set.
Areas like West Plains and Harrison were back in the upper 70s Sunday, shattering longstanding record highs. New record highs were also set in Vichy and in Joplin.
Springfield fell short by a couple of degrees, but managed to keep the 70° streak going for six straight days. That’s a feat that’s never been recorded in the month of December.
This was also the warmest Christmas holiday ever recorded in our area, with record highs set each day for nearly a week. Christmas Day was the warmest ever recorded, with a high of 77°, beating a record high that went all the way back to 1889. The high of 77° also matched the monthly record high of 77°.
The extended run of warmth led to six 70° days in December, tying 2021 for second place for most 70° days in December. Temperatures went from well below normal in early December to well above at the end and December 2025 will go down as one of the warmest on record.
One final notable from the month, it’s been dry, very dry. We’ve experienced less than a quarter of an inch of precipitation this December. In Springfield, it will go down as the second driest December on record…