A mini-heat wave is likely to hit northern Ohio in mid-December.
There is an 80 percent chance that temperatures will be warmer than average in the Great Lakes, parts of the Midwest and the Northeast from Dec. 10-16, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported this week in a weather update.
Some U.S. Weather Service officials are predicting one of the warmest Decembers on record for parts of the Midwest and the Northeast, due to the still-growing El Nino in the Pacific.
Forecaster Michael Ventrice told the Washington Post that there is a possibility for “historic warmth” across the northern United States in December with temperatures four to five degrees above normal for the month.
The average December temperature in the Akron-Canton area is 35 degrees.
The warmer predictions come after the Akron-Canton area had the third warmest November on record locally.
The average temperature was 48.6 degrees, about 6.8 degrees above normal for the month.
The Akron-Canton area recorded only a trace of snow on two dates in November. It was the sixth November with only a trace of snow recorded locally.
In October, NOAA, part of the U.S. Department of Commerce, had issued its prediction for winter 2015-2016 with northern Ohio likely to be warmer and drier than usual.
The U.S. weather picture from December through February is expected to be dominated by a strong El Nino that will affect the position of the Pacific jet stream. That is expected to produce rainy and cool weather from California to Texas to the Gulf Coast and Florida and up the East Coast to southern New England.
High pressures are likely to settle over the northern United States and produce warmer and drier conditions.
The excessively warm water in the tropical Pacific is poised to be one of the most powerful El Ninos ever, surpassing the record-intense 1997-1998 El Nino by at least one measure already, weather experts said.
Northern Ohio will likely get some severe winter storms and cold but those are not part of the winter outlook and cannot be predicted in advance.
The latest prediction also doesn’t address Christmas and whether a white holiday is likely.