December temperatures in parts of US and Canada hit record high

Warm spell equals or breaks records in several states, with temperature 15-20C above average in places

A spell of unseasonably warm weather affected southern and western parts of the US and south-western Canada last week, with temperatures 15-20C above average in places. December temperature records were broken in multiple locations. Penticton in British Columbia had its highest ever December on the 1st as the temperature reached 22.5C. In the US, Montana, North Dakota, Washington and Wyoming all equalled or broke state temperature records for December.

Not all the US states are seeing unseasonable warmth, however. The National Weather Service (NWS) issued a fairly rare blizzard warning last weekend for the summits of Big Island, Hawaii. It forecast up to 20cm (8in) of snow and winds gusting up to 125mph. The NWS has not issued a blizzard warning for that region since 2018. The same system that brought the snow also caused heavy rain at lower levels.