December continues to be an unseasonably warm month in Iowa.

Weatherology Meteorologist Paul Trambley says the daytime highs of the 40s and 50s will stay through most of next week, followed by a brief cool down in the later part of next week, before returning to the 40s and 50s again. He explains that the warmer temperatures in the month of December is due to the current El Nino pattern they are seeing.

“The stronger the El Nino, the more enhanced its effects are in our weather for the winter season over the Northern Plains. The stronger the El Nino, the more likelihood there is for a warm winter to play out. It’s definitely certainly playing out that way here for us so far.”

Trambley believes these warmer temperatures are here to stay even in the long-range forecast.

“That’s going to be the case here for us. So I think overall the warmer days certainly outweigh colder days as we head through the end of the month and into probably the first part of January.”

According to the National Weather Service, the normal average daytime high for December is around 35 degrees.