December begins with a warm spell

After a week of unseasonably warm temperatures, the Tri-City area should get back to more seasonably typical weather in the next few days.
“We’re expecting a couple of cold fronts to come through and basically flip us from running above normal like we have been for the past week. And we’re expecting next week to be below normal,” National Weather Service meteorologist Roger Erickson said.
On Saturday, the temperature got up to 79 degrees at Harry P. Williams Memorial Airport near Patterson, according to the National Weather Service’s website.
Erickson expects lows to be in the 40s and 50s throughout next week.
High temperatures will go from being in the 60s and 70s to trending down into the 60s and 50s next week.
A cold front is projected to come through the area Thursday. Low temperatures will probably cool through the weekend, and then may rise slightly Monday ahead of another cold front that will come through that day, he said.
Warmer temperatures during the weekend were caused by a high pressure system to the east that kept south or southeast winds coming into the area, Erickson said.
The warm water temperatures in the Gulf of Mexico added to the unseasonably warm weather the region has seen.
“In the wintertime, when you have the southerly or southeasterly flow like that, you’ll see warmer temperatures and usually cloudy and some fog,” Erickson said.
The area should also see a 60 percent chance of showers tonight and 30 percent chance Wednesday before drying out for the weekend, the website said. Rain will make its way back into the forecast Monday, Erickson said.
Low temperatures are projected to get down to 42 degrees Thursday night, the website said.
“The general trend for the next couple weeks is going back to near normal or even below normal for the temperatures,” Erickson said.
The normal high this time of year should be around 66 degrees.