Unseasonably warm weather sets records in December

Associated Press | AP

DETROIT - This is December? Really?

After breaking some records for warmth Saturday, the Detroit area did the same Sunday when 61 degrees was recorded about 1 p.m. at Detroit Metropolitan Airport.

That tops the record 60 degrees for Dec. 13 that was set in 1881.

Saturday’s high of 63 degrees at the airport in Romulus broke the Dec. 12 record of 61 from 1949. Pontiac and White Lake Township also set records Saturday.

The unseasonably warm temperatures partly are due to warm, moist air moving northwest from the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Mexico and the warming El Nino weather system, National Weather Service meteorologist Deb Elliott said.

A high of 63 was expected Sunday in Grand Rapids in western Michigan. Flint, northwest of Detroit, could reach 66 degrees, according to the weather service.

Even Traverse City in northern Michigan was expected to reach the mid-50s.

Most ski hills in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula are closed because of the higher -than-normal temperatures.

Rheanne Suszek just hopes the weather pattern sticks around.

Suszek, 33, of Detroit, took advantage of the warm weather to take a run Sunday along Detroit’s east riverfront.

“It keeps me outside more,” said Suszek, an executive director at an area YMCA. “I’ve done a lot of running. I went bike riding. I’m also more likely to go out to dinner or have cocktails.”

On Sunday, she wore running shorts, a long-sleeve shirt and knee-high socks. On a typical December day in Michigan, she would have donned “long, insulated running tights,” Suszek said.

She may be able to keep the tights folded and tucked away for at least a few more days. Temperatures in and around Detroit are expected to dip overnight, but still could reach the upper 50s on Monday.