WEATHER

Will the Fox Cities see a white Christmas or record high temperatures? Here's the forecast

Rebecca Loroff
Appleton Post-Crescent

APPLETON — If you're dreaming of a white Christmas in the Fox Cities, you'll probably need to keep dreaming.

This year, Christmas is predicted to be warm and wet, with rain likely and highs of 49 degrees forecast. Those temperatures are close to record highs for Christmas, with 52 degrees recorded in 1936, according to the National Weather Service.

The average high temperature for the holiday is 28 degrees.

It's expected to end a long weekend of rain, fog and record or near-record high temps, with highs of 46 degrees forecast Saturday and 49 Sunday. The fog is expected to be a "significant factor" that could impact holiday travelers, NWS meteorologist Roy Eckberg said, with local visibility possibly reduced to a quarter-mile.

The weather will be warmer this weekend than it was for Thanksgiving or Halloween, which had highs of 42 and 35 respectively.

Fog hangs over the Fox River in Appleton on Nov. 25, 2018. Temperatures are expected to be record or near-record highs this weekend, with rain and fog in the forecast.

Temperatures driven by storm system, El Niño defy odds of usual Wisconsin Christmases

While El Niño has been "dominating" the weather pattern over the past month, it's not the only culprit, Eckberg said.

A large storm system is expected to move across the Great Plains and into Wisconsin by Christmas Eve, bringing with it mild air and southerly winds from the Gulf Coast, Eckberg said. The system, which he described as "slow-moving," is forecast to linger into the middle of next week.

This year's mild weather defies the odds of what's normal for Christmas in northern Wisconsin. While the chances of snow this year are "slim," Green Bay and the Fox Cities have, on average, about a 65-75% chance of having a "white Christmas," which the NWS defines as an inch or more of snow on the ground Christmas Day.

Further north and west, the odds are greater in central and northern Wisconsin, ranging up to nearly 100% at Lac Vieux Desert in Vilas County.

Rebecca Loroff is a breaking and trending news reporter for northeastern Wisconsin. Contact her with story tips and feedback at rloroff@gannett.com.