Brittany Lockley

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Unseasonably warm temperatures continue to dominate much of the western and now south-central United States, as an area of high pressure keeps the jet stream north, helping to lock in the warm air. There was another day of record-breaking temperatures on Friday. The record warmth potential is expected to continue through this weekend.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2025/12/Screenshot 2025-12-20 073940-1766241652856.png">The warm temperatures are bringing a spring-like feel to cities across the southwest. Denver and Albuquerque normally see highs in the 40s, but will be pushing well into the 60s and even 70s. This ridge of high pressure will continue to keep the warm temperatures around, heading towards the Christmas Holidays, but shifting farther east into Texas and Oklahoma.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2025/12/Screenshot 2025-12-19 114801-1766170086873.png">Here is a look at who can break records this week:<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2025/12/Screenshot 2025-12-20 074119-1766241817254.png">As we look at the temperature trend for December 25th - 29th, there is strong confidence that a large portion of the country will be well above average.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2025/12/Screenshot 2025-12-20 074219-1766241781498.png">Make sure to tune into WeatherNation :50 past the hour, every hour for your Western regional forecast.

Record Warmth Continues

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Taban Sharifi grew up in Southern California between Los Angeles and San Diego. She is a Certified Broadcast Meteorologist (CBM) with the American Meteorological Society (AMS). She has a B.S. in Atmospheric, Oceanic, and Environmental Sciences with a minor in Environmental Systems and Society from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Go Bruins! While in school, Taban was a meteorology intern with NBC LA. There she helped forecast daily weather for the greater Los Angeles region and created a playbook to deploy weather sensors for NBC owned-and-operated stations across the country. Her first on-air job took her to San Angelo, Texas, where she was a morning meteorologist and co-anchor. Working in West Texas gave her knowledge and experience covering severe storms. From there, she moved to Palm Springs, California. People think forecasting in California is sunshine all the time, but with temperatures in the 120’s, wildfires, damaging winds, floodings, and earthquakes, the forecasting kept her very busy! She also worked there as a general assignment reporter and told community stories. Taban is excited for the challenge and opportunity to forecast nationally with WeatherNation. She also looks forward to exploring all that Colorado has to offer!

Taban Sharifi

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WEST - A river of moisture has been directed towards the western United States for the last week, bringing record rainfall, historic river flooding, and damage to homes and property. While this river will shift to California through some of the early weekend, we're still not out of the woods in the Pacific Northwest.<div class="twitter-tweet" style="display: flex; justify-content: center" data-twitt-post-id="2001283739846906166" src="https://x.com/WeatherNation/status/2001283739846906166"></div><h1>Forecast Timing</h1>Moving forward, the heaviest of the rain will be focused in on California. However, our northwestern mountains will be stuck in the clouds so we can expect heavy snowfall totals to start to accumulate. Most of these systems have been seeing warm moisture as opposed to cold moisture, so snow levels have been quite high. With the cooler Pacific air behind the system, it should be could enough to keep accumulating snowfall.<video src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2025/12/FORECAST-1766193036916.mp4" controls="true" width="100%"></video>As snow levels drop, winter weather will complete the trifecta of weather hazards with this system. Some winter alerts continue through the weekend.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2025/12/PIC 2-1766193079854.jpg"><img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2025/12/Screenshot 2025-12-19 114448-1766170540680.png">Rainfall totals have surpassed 7-8 inches already, with more on the way. The heaviest of the rain looks to line up farther south, aiming at Oregon and northern California.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2025/12/Screenshot 2025-12-17 183807-1766021892377.png">Additional rounds of heavy rain and snow are expected into the week. We won't have a lot of new snow when temperatures begin to drop.Through Christmas, the Climate Prediction Center has a higher confidence that conditions will stay wetter than normal.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2025/12/Screenshot 2025-12-17 183826-1766021911839.png">For more details, be sure to join us live at :50 past the hour for your Western Regional forecast.

Patrick Crawford

ATMOSPHERIC RIVER: Winds Topping 100 MPH In the Northwest

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WeatherNation Meteorologists

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<div data-youtube-video=""><iframe width="640" height="480" allowfullscreen="false" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/GtdF4xLBGXc" start="0"></iframe></div>As 2025 comes to an end, many people are expected to travel for the holiday season. AAA expects an increase in travelers compared to last year, 2024. The forecast calls for 119.7 million travelers, which is a 2.2% increase from 2024.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2025/12/Screenshot 2025-12-10 151722-1765405796099.png">Traveling by car is the favorite for the holidays. AAA notes gas prices, on average, are also down in comparison to 2024.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2025/12/Screenshot 2025-12-10 151733-1765406300348.png">Air travel is also up since 2024 by 2.3%. AAA expects 8.03 million people to be traveling to their destinations for the holidays via airplane. This will be the first time air travel for the year end holiday will exceed 8 million.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2025/12/Screenshot 2025-12-10 151738-1765406099314.png">All other travel has also gone up by 9% since last year. This includes cruises, bus travel, and travel by train.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2025/12/Screenshot 2025-12-10 151743-1765406410699.png">The top 10 destinations domestically are as follows:<ol><li>Orlando, FL</li><li>Fort Lauderdale, FL</li><li>Miami, FL</li><li>Anaheim/Los Angeles, CA</li><li>Honolulu, HI</li><li>Tampa, FL</li><li>New York City, NY</li><li>Maui, HI</li><li>Dallas/Fort Worth, TX</li><li>Las Vegas, NV</li></ol>For those major destinations, below are the busiest travel times.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2025/12/Screenshot 2025-12-10 151754-1765406540451.png">More more information on the AAA travel forecast, including details on best and worst travel times: <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://newsroom.aaa.com/2025/12/aaa-year-end-holiday-travel-forecast/">Year-End Holiday Travel Expected to Set New Record</a>.

End of Year Travel Expected to Break Records

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Dave Holder

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As wind intensifies once again across the Front Range with a dry, downsloping wind, fire weather conditions have dramatically increased. In fact, the Storm Prediction Center has issued a somewhat rare Critical Fire Risk from Boulder to Cheyenne (above).<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2025/12/Screenshot 2025-12-19 123816-1766173281347.png">Red Flag Warnings will remain in place across the Denver metro area, northward into the High Plains of Wyoming, for the rest of the night.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2025/12/Screenshot 2025-12-19 123131-1766173410757.png"><div data-youtube-video=""><iframe width="640" height="480" allowfullscreen="false" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/YPs_4Hc38Ok" start="0"></iframe></div>In addition, within the Red Flag Warning is a higher-end, PDS (Particularly Dangerous Situation) Warning. Here, to the west of a line from Golden to Boulder to Lyons, wind gusts could exceed 100mph! With down-sloping winds, relative humidity will be low, possibly dropping into the single digits at times.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2025/12/Screenshot 2025-12-19 123825-1766173570820.png">Enhancing the wildfire potential is the amount of fuel. The Front Range of northern Colorado into Wyoming has been very dry as of late. A Moderate to Severe Drought remains highlighted across the entire Red Flag Warning area.

Extreme Critical Fire Risk in Colorado Friday

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Tracey Anthony

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It's been a cold start to the week for millions! Areas around the Great Lakes and Ohio River Valley took the most recent Arctic outbreak on the chin, with temperatures plummeting below zero in some instances. On Monday, as winds flipped out of the south, we began to thaw out and most of us are feeling either seasonable or above average by Wednesday. However......The Arctic air isn't getting shoved too far away. This week, we unlock another block of the cold stuff and slide it southward. The good news? It looks like it's not quite as brutal as the last shot.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2025/12/PIC 2-1766108303423.jpg">A system will emerge out of the Rockies again, moving into much warmer temperatures by Wednesday. How much rain/snow/mud will that system drop? Relate Article: <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.weathernationtv.com/news/rainy-system-to-move-over-snow">Sloppy System Moves into the Midwest</a>More importantly, the temperatures swinging on the other side of it will send another chill down the spine of the Heartland. Wednesday night will be the rudest, while Thursday night will likely be the coldest, but should see the winds subsiding. Bismarck, the usual poster child for nasty cold, will only top out in the single digits Thursday afternoon and Grand Forks will be near 20 below Friday AM.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2025/12/Web 4-1766069713419.png">Like a trampoline, temperatures rebound the following day for most.

Returning Back to the Freezer This Week

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NORTHERN PLAINS - A low-pressure system originating from the northwest has moved through the plains and is now pushing into the Great Lakes. This system will move into warmer air, so models are favoring rainfall, as opposed to snowfall. There are winter alerts and blizzard warnings that remain in effect for snow and low visibility. Wind gusts can be as high as 70 mph, with an additional 1-4" of snowfall in the blizzard warning.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2025/12/Screenshot 2025-12-18 075831-1766069925707.png">There have been several recently clipper systems that moved into the Northern tier of the country. The systems dumped a decent amount of snowfall, whch lead to a a decent snowpack on the ground across the plains and the Great Lakes.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2025/12/Screenshot 2025-12-18 075856-1766070030595.png">With this next system moving in and bringing rain, this could lead to a bit of slush out there as the rain melts away the snowfall. The system moves through fast and over the Midwest and into the northeast on Thursday.<video src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2025/12/2025-12-18 07-59-22-1766069997751.mp4" controls="true" width="100%"></video>Precipitation totals will be fairly minimal because of the speed at which this system moves through.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2025/12/Screenshot 2025-12-18 075911-1766070017438.png">For some, temperatures will be impacted by this front. For instance, look at Bismarck, North Dakota, a high of 42 on Wednesday and 30 degrees cooler by Thursday with a high of 10.For more details on this, be sure to join us on WeatherNation live! We stream 24/7.

Messy System Moving into the Midwest

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Kevin Schneider

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Does it feel like deja vu? This persistent pattern, locked in for most of December, has some side effects. No snow for the west! While areas around the Midwest are experiencing their snowiest start to the Winter in years, areas out west are looking at their slowest start to the water year.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2025/12/Screenshot 2025-12-17 090611-1765987589484.png">Take, for instance, the Pacific Northwest. They've been seeing the worst of both patterns: warm systems that bring inundating rainfall to the area, without the benefits of slow-melting snowfall, keeping watersheds fed with a much-needed, consistent water source.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2025/12/Screenshot 2025-12-17 140808-1766005705355.png">Other areas like Colorado have seen a fairly soggy past month, but got off to one of the latest starts to winter on record in Denver. Similarly, like the northwest was struggling, any shot at moisture fell at once, as rain.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2025/12/Screenshot 2025-12-17 141243-1766005981387.png">All of this information comes from the National Integrated Drought Information System, an offshoot of NOAA<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://nwcc-apps.sc.egov.usda.gov/imap/#version=2&amp;elements=&amp;networks=!&amp;states=!&amp;basins=!&amp;hucs=&amp;minElevation=&amp;maxElevation=&amp;elementSelectType=any&amp;activeOnly=true&amp;activeForecastPointsOnly=true&amp;hucLabels=false&amp;hucIdLabels=false&amp;hucParameterLabels=true&amp;stationLabels=&amp;overlays=&amp;hucOverlays=state&amp;basinOpacity=100&amp;basinNoDataOpacity=100&amp;basemapOpacity=100&amp;maskOpacity=0&amp;mode=data&amp;openSections=dataElement,parameter,date,basin,options,elements,location,networks,baseMaps,overlays,labels&amp;controlsOpen=true&amp;popup=&amp;popupMulti=&amp;popupBasin=&amp;base=esriWgc&amp;displayType=basin&amp;basinType=6&amp;dataElement=WTEQ&amp;depth=-8&amp;parameter=PCTMED&amp;frequency=DAILY&amp;duration=I&amp;customDuration=&amp;dayPart=E&amp;monthPart=E&amp;forecastPubDay=1&amp;forecastExceedance=50&amp;useMixedPast=true&amp;seqColor=2&amp;divColor=7&amp;scaleType=D&amp;scaleMin=&amp;scaleMax=&amp;referencePeriodType=POR&amp;referenceBegin=1991&amp;referenceEnd=2020&amp;minimumYears=20&amp;hucAssociations=true&amp;relativeDate=-4&amp;lat=41.191&amp;lon=-108.971&amp;zoom=5.5">Interactive Map at this link here</a><img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2025/12/Screenshot 2025-12-17 085846-1765987778263.png">So what would help? A breakdown of the pattern would be a great place to start, with some signs that we might get some help. As the jet stream dips into the holiday week, confidence is growing in heavy rain targeting California

Alana Cameron

West Facing Record Low Snow Levels

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VIDEOS OF THE DAY -- Check out these amazing videos from different firefighter teams battling the wildfires in California. Not only are they working to contain these fires but also helping rescue those trapped by the smoke and flames.

https://www.facebook.com/WeatherNation/videos/303139770540420/

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For WeatherNation, I'm <a href="https://media.weathernationtv.com/team/meredith-garofalo/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Meteorologist Meredith Garofalo</a>

Heroic Rescues from Wildfires

Record Warmth Continues

Unseasonably warm temperatures continue to do

ATMOSPHERIC RIVER: Winds Topping 100 MPH In the Northwest

WEST - A river of moisture has been directed

End of Year Travel Expected to Break Records

As 2025 comes to an end, many people are expe

Extreme Critical Fire Risk in Colorado Friday

As wind intensifies once again across the Fro

Returning Back to the Freezer This Week

It's been a cold start to the week for millio

Messy System Moving into the Midwest

NORTHERN PLAINS - A low-pressure system origi

West Facing Record Low Snow Levels

Does it feel like deja vu? This persistent pa