Record high temperatures on Christmas Day left many dreaming of a white Christmas in Arkansas.
Several cities in Central Arkansas set records for high temperatures on Christmas Day, including Little Rock, Russellville, Pine Bluff, Hot Springs and Stuttgart, according to data from the National Weather Service.
Little Rock's record high of 78 degrees was its hottest Christmas on record, eclipsing the previous high of 73 degrees that was set in 1942. In Pine Bluff, the high temperature reached 80 degrees and broke a 99-year-old record.
Hot Springs lived up to its moniker with a high temperature of 79 degrees, breaking the Christmas record of 70 degrees set in 2019. In the Delta, Stuttgart's high reached 77 degrees to break a record set in 1942.
Average high temperatures this December are set to eclipse last year with an average maximum of 64.5 degrees, according to preliminary data from the National Weather Service. The average maximum was 54.5 degrees last year.
"It's a La Nina winter, so we usually expect a warmer and drier season during La Nina conditions," said Travis Shelton, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in North Little Rock. "That's one thing that kind of shifts the jets stream where we're not going to expect a lot of colder air to come down.
La Nina is a climate pattern that brings warmer and drier air into the southern United States every few years. That means a warmer than usual winter for Arkansas, but weather officials said it's time to pack up your winter coats just yet.
Warm air from the Gulf of Mexico swept into Arkansas on Christmas Eve, warming much of the Southeast in time for Christmas Day.
"Usually we'll have the jet stream in a position where it will bring us more storm systems and cold fronts," Shelton said. "During a La Nina year that just doesn't happen."
Meteorologists are forecasting freezing temperatures and potentially some snow this Sunday around much of central and northern Arkansas.
While La Nina could mean a warmer winter this year, it's only one of many factors that contribute to the weather on any given day. Some of the harshest winter weather to Arkansas has come during La Nina winters, according to the National Weather Service, with "huge episodes" of ice, snow and thunderstorms.
Forecasters predict a cold front will move into the state around Sunday morning, but just how cold and how wet remains to be seen.
"It's coming together, but we still have a couple of days to fine-tune that," Shelton said.