Was it warm on Christmas Day in Newburgh?

Last updated: January 31, 2020

Math Skill: LINE GRAPHS

Science Skill: WEATHER & CLIMATE

Grade level: 4th – 5th grades

Area level: Community-scale

Environmental Area: Air

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Purpose: Understand that we had many warm days during December 2019 in Newburgh/Evansville.

BACKGROUND FOR THE TEACHER

We had a spell of warm weather in Southwest Indiana during the month of December 2019. Santa Claus could even wear short sleeves to this area, and the Paoli Peaks were forced to shut down for several weeks.

According to the National Weather Service, a low-pressure weather system broke off from the polar jet, and the polar jet ended up too far north and the subtropical jet ended up too far south to bring in new low pressure systems to the Midwest. As a result, the Midwest had a high pressure and southerly winds, which gave us clear skies, dry conditions, and mild temperatures. (Scott Anderson, 2019)