Residents in about half of the U.S. may experience their warmest Christmas Eve and Christmas Day in memory this year, as an El Niño-fueled December "blowtorch" weather pattern shows few signs of relenting.

Already this month, a whopping 5,608 warm temperature records had been set for the month so far, compared to just 188 cold temperature records for the same period.

In other words, there have been 30 warm temperature records (record daily high, record high overnight low temperature) for every cold temperature record across the lower 48 states, according to data from the National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) in Asheville, North Carolina.

Eastern U.S. forecast for Christmas Week. pic.twitter.com/F1F8oPsd4s — Eric Fisher (@ericfisher) December 16, 2015

On social media, meteorologists have been referring to this weather pattern as a "blowtorch" pattern in the East, which is essentially the opposite of what occurred during the past two winters, when the coldest air set up shop across the Midwest and Northeast, along with major snowstorms.

Computer model projections are near-unanimous in showing an extremely mild Christmas week for cities ranging from Chicago to Atlanta, and Boston to Washington, D.C..

Numerous daily high temperature records could be set, and all-time high temperature records may be threatened, with temperatures in Washington nearing the mid-60s Fahrenheit on Christmas Eve, for example, rather than the typical reading for this time of year, which is in the mid-40s.

Spectacular signal in the models for record warmth in the eastern US in the 6-10 day time near Christmas #weather pic.twitter.com/vEmguVcheQ — Eric Blake (@EricBlake12) December 17, 2015

Washington's all-time warmest temperature for Christmas Eve is 69 degrees, which was set in 1933, and that could be reached or exceeded depending on the amount of sunshine present on that day as well as other factors. New York, Pittsburgh, Burlington, Vermont and other cities will flirt with their warmest Christmas Eve readings as well, according to The Weather Channel.

In New York City on Tuesday, the high temperature is predicted to be in the upper 50s Fahrenheit, which would be between 15 and 20 degrees above average. In Boston, which broke its all-time snowfall record last year, the high temperature forecast for Tuesday and Wednesday next week calls for temperatures to reach the mid-50s Fahrenheit.

Even in normally mild Florida the warmth this December is rare, with mid-to-upper 80s common in central and northern Florida, where the average at this time of year is closer to the low-70s, and 50-degree days are not unheard of after Arctic cold fronts pass through.

Some cities are unlikely to set all-time high temperature records on Christmas Day, including Boston, where the warmest on record was 65 degrees in 1889. However, Christmas in 1964 was 60 degrees, which is within reach this year.

The warmth this Christmas will come courtesy of an area of high pressure parked across the western Atlantic, with the clockwise circulation around this high pumping mild air from the tropics northward, all the way into southeastern Canada.

Mild Decembers in parts of the U.S. correlate with years in which there is a strong El Niño event, including a particularly powerful one in 1982, which is when many of the record warm temperature benchmarks were set.

Computer model depiction of winds in the upper atmosphere over the North Pole, showing a strong polar vortex that is helping to lock in cold air well north of the lower 48 states. Image: Earth Simulator

In addition to El Niño, though, the Arctic Oscillation — which is a pattern of atmospheric pressure that influences the flow of frigid, Arctic air into the U.S. — and the polar vortex have both been configured in ways that help lock up the cold air within the Arctic, rather than allowing it to slip southward.

That may change later this winter, but there's little likelihood of a major shift occurring before Christmas week.

Although temperatures will be unusually mild, the weather won't necessarily be tranquil for some. There are signs of at least two storm systems that could cause spring-like outbreaks of severe thunderstorms during Christmas week, particularly in the South Central and Southeastern states, while bringing cloudy and damp conditions to the East Coast.

The warm Christmas comes at the tail end of what will be the planet's warmest year on record, and after the warmest months of October and November on a global basis.