Last week, winter paid us a very brief visit. But just as quickly as the cold came in, it left. Winter has been practically non-existent from Chicago to the East Coast so far this season. This week we return to the “tropical surge” of record breaking summer warmth! Temperatures will be 25-30 degrees above normal at times. Forget snow for Christmas, think borderline beach weather!

Along with the warmth will come rain; it’s just the price we have to pay! Now we are not talking about soaking in all-day rain, but rather days where there’s a one hour shower in the morning, a peak of sunshine in the afternoon and 2 hours of light rain in the evening. Much of the week will be cloudy. Just keep the umbrella handy and you’ll be fine.

Wednesday is the wettest day of the week with a couple rounds of rain, especially in the afternoon and evening. Temperatures will be rising through the 60s so it will be a warm rain.

Christmas Eve (Thursday) is the warmest day of the week. Temperatures surge into the lower 70s with clouds and showers around. It’s not a terrible travel day, but we’ve seen better.

I hope you’re not dreaming of a white Christmas (Friday).  This year, it will be the exact opposite of the “ones we used to know.” Expect crazy warmth with temperatures in the 60s (near 70!) all day.

Saturday features a brief “cool down.” I hate calling it “cool” because it will still be warm for this time of year. Sunday is a warm, cloudy day with showers possible as a frontal boundary hangs to our North.

On Monday we cool down again after the Sunday showers, but rain and warmth come back Monday night and Tuesday. The Saturday to Tuesday time frame is what we call the weather yoyo. Temperatures will go up and down and every time they go up it will be accompanied by rain.

The weather winner of the week is Friday; the weather loser is Wednesday.

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