How cool is that? We take a look at South Florida temps of Christmas past
MIAMI - You may have already watched the movie "A Christmas Carol" and Scrooge's voice is ringing loud and clear in your head, "Bah, humbug!" But Christmas in South Florida is nothing to growl about.
The weather in South Florida is typically sunny and warm with highs in the upper 70s during this time of year. But, let's look back at our Christmas past for a few stats that may interest you.
The normal or average high temperature on December 25th is 77 degrees. It only drops to 63 degrees overnight. Less humid air is likely at this time of the year with only .06" of rainfall on average for the day.
Remember, it's the dry season, so rainy days are difficult to come by, but in 1915, 1.17" of rain fell on Christmas Day making it the wettest on record.
The warmest Christmas on record goes back to 2016 when the high temperature reached 85 degrees.
CBS4's meteorologist Cindy Preszler says she is sure the beaches were busy and Santa had to make some wardrobe changes. Just a year earlier in 2015, the overnight low only fell to 77 degrees which is the warmest low temperature on record.
If it's "sweater weather" you're looking for, 1989 stands out by far.
The Christmas cold wave lasted from December 22nd through the 26th. It was one of the worst freezes ever for the state of Florida.
According to the Florida Dept. of Health, 26 people died from hypothermia. Fires were set by spaces heaters and stoves. The roads were slick causing many accidents.
The coldest Christmas on record was in 1983. The temperature only warmed to 51 degrees. That's 26 degrees below average.
Whether it's warm or chilly this Christmas, one thing is for sure. It's not likely we'll be building anything out of snow. Although it has snowed in South Florida in the past, it takes more than a few flakes to make a healthy snowman.
