Arctic Blast Grips the Great White North as America Sees Most Unseasonably Mild Christmas Ever.

A prolonged deep freeze has enveloped a severe and lengthy Arctic outbreak, with readings persisting in the minus 20 to minus 40 Celsius range for weeks. This week, the Yukon community of Braeburn saw the mercury drop to -55.7C, marking its chilliest December reading in half a century.

Prolonged Freeze Below -40C

Similarly, the communities of Mayo and Dawson experienced sixteen nights in a row below -40C, with the temperature in Mayo bottoming out at -50.4 degrees Celsius at the start of the week. The capital, Whitehorse, likewise saw a series of ten nights when readings fell to minus 30 degrees or lower.

This Arctic air mass pushed further southward through Christmas week. Christmas night saw Edmonton's temperatures plummet below minus 28C.

December 26th was anticipated to usher in readings no higher than -20 Celsius across many regions, from Edmonton in the west to Quebec in the east.

Expected to Continue For Days to Come

This harsh winter weather is expected to continue into the new year. Officials have warned that the Yukon could face electricity outages in the coming days, as the territory’s power grid comes under strain from historically high electricity consumption.

The lengthy cold snap originates from a stationary polar vortex across the northern part of the continent this month, allowing bitter Arctic air to spill south. In the coming week, forecasts indicate this cold air will pull back northward gradually, enabling milder Pacific air to move across the United States and penetrate southern Canadian regions.

Stark Contrast to American Heat

Conversely, sections of America recorded their warmest Christmas Day on record as the mercury climbed roughly 15 to 30 degrees above typical averages. For numerous locations, the weather resembled a spring day in April or May than late December.

Multiple states established new Christmas temperature highs. Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, reached 25 degrees Celsius on Christmas, topping the prior high mark of 22 degrees established over forty years ago. Urban centers like Austin, Dallas, and Charlotte, North Carolina similarly saw thermometers rise past the 25C mark.

Heat-Dome Effect Sustains High Temperatures

Unseasonable heat is predicted to persist through Boxing Day and the days ahead, with abnormal warmth projected to move across the southeastern US in the coming days.

This heat is being driven by a strong upper-level ridge stretching from the southwestern deserts northward and eastward, establishing a classic heat-dome pattern. Such a configuration results in a widespread high-pressure system over a large portion of North America, which holds warm air close to the ground. Sinking atmospheric air undergoes compression and additional heating, enabling abnormally high temperatures to develop.