The reasons behind Columbia's expected record-high temps Wednesday
It's beginning to feel a lot unlike Christmas.
Temperatures on Wednesday in Columbia are expected to reach a record high, accompanied by strong wind gusts.
The highest temperature recorded for Dec. 15 in Columbia is 70 degrees, set in 1948. Temperatures on Wednesday are forecast to reach 74 degrees, approximately 30 degrees above average for this time of year, said Marshall Pfahler, meteorologist at the National Weather Service in St. Louis.
Warm, moist air masses have remained over the area with little push from colder air from the north, keeping them anchored over Columbia and making tornadoes like the Midwest saw last week a possibility.
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Later this week, local temperatures are expected to drop significantly amid rain showers, but are forecast to remain about 10 degrees above average.
"It's uncertain if these more seasonal temperatures will last for an extended period of time," Pfahler said.
Tony Lupo, professor of atmospheric science at the University of Missouri, said on Tuesday that the mild and unseasonably warm temperatures we are experiencing have a lot to do with the drought on the West Coast as well.
The drought causes high pressure and keeps any cold air masses from coming down into the United States, he said.
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Lupo said that we are in another La Niña year, which refers to the periodic cooling of surface temperatures in the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean and typically translates to warmer winter temperatures locally. El Niño is the opposite, with warmer surface temperatures equating to cooler winters locally.
"They're our biggest controllers on the winter season," Lupo said. "We tend to seesaw between the two every three to seven years."
Winds ushering in a cold front are expected to reach gusts of about 40 mph in Columbia on Wednesday, as the temperature peaks before dropping to a high of 52 on Thursday. Highs are forecast in the low-40s this weekend, with lows falling below freezing.
Outdoor Christmas decorations should be properly secured or taken down Wednesday due to the expected wind gusts, Pfahler said. When driving, be aware of vehicles that may swerve with high gusts, he added.
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Another brief warm-up is expected early next week, but temperatures are not expected to reach back to record levels in the foreseeable future.
"I am not a huge fan of these warmer temperatures," Michael Peters said while on a walk with his friend Shawna Jackson on Tuesday at Stephens Lake Park. "It makes it hard for it to feel much like Christmas."
"I actually prefer this weather," Jackson disagreed. "I really hate the cold."
The warm and windy weather isn't just limited to Columbia. Weather forecasters say damaging winds are expected in parts of Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa and Missouri this week, just days after devastating tornadoes that wreaked havoc in the region.
The NWS has issued a high wind watch starting Wednesday morning for most of Kansas and Nebraska and the northwest corner of Missouri. Most of central Iowa is under the same watch starting Wednesday afternoon into the night.
The system's swath starts in New Mexico and cuts across southeastern Colorado, the Texas and Oklahoma panhandles and ends in the southeast corner of Minnesota, according to a weather service map.
Cities in the path of the winds include North Platte, Lincoln and Omaha in Nebraska; Dodge City, Topeka and Kansas City in Kansas; Kansas City and its suburbs and St. Joseph in Missouri; and Des Moines, Waterloo, Fort Dodge and Mason City in Iowa.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Columbia expects record-high temperatures Wednesday. Why?
