Mild December Continues Here

Another clear and mild morning as per view from campus at about 8:00 am MST this morning - note the indicated temperature of 34 F. Down at bottom is view of east bound I-40 at Holbrook, a bit before sunrise this morning.

Graphic above (from MesoWest) shows 7:30 am temperatures across main metro area - mostly near or below freezing. Lowest I see is 23 F at a site off to the east toward Redington Pass. Low here at house dropped to 24 F - making this the coldest morning here so far for this Fall and Winter. Plot below shows shows yesterday afternoon highs, which were generally right around 60 F. Looks like the mild weather will continue on to Christmas, with similar to slightly warmer temperatures and no precipitation.

The forecast 500 mb pattern for noon on Christmas day is shown below (from 06 UTC run of the GFS last night). Weather action continues mostly in the Northeast - where there are major winter storm warnings in effect today and tomorrow. In the West we are under a weak, blocking pattern, with the Southwest remaining moisture-starved. And so it goes.