High temperatures in Cincinnati are likely to rise above 60° Friday, Saturday, and Sunday; in fact, highs Saturday and Sunday are forecast to be in the upper 60s to near 70°. Is it uncommon to reach into the 60s in December? The answer depends on how high the temperature goes.

On average, the high temperature hits or rises above 60° 2 days each December. We have yet to hit 60° in December 2015. While it will be abnormally warm the next few days, there were 5 days in both December 2012 and December 2013 where the high temperature was 60° or higher:

The records for the most number of 60° days in Cincinnati during December is 15 set in 1889.

Making it to or above 65° in Cincinnati during December is less common. On average, there is 1 65°+ day in the Queen City each December; there have only been three of these days since 2009:

The temperature went above 65° 6 times in December of 1982.

70°+ days in December are rare; there have only been 12 of them since 1870 and 1 since 2009:

The record high temperatures in Cincinnati for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday respectively are 70° set in 1931, 64° set in 2007, and 67° in 1927. The record high for Friday will not be broken, but the record highs Saturday and Sunday are forecast to be tied or broken.

The bigger story continues to be the lack of snow in Cincinnati, especially accumulating snow. There was no snow in Cincinnati today, so we are down to 21 years of the 122 years where we had to wait longer (than this season) for the first accumulating snow of the fall or winter:

Snow is unlikely in the next 7 days. The Climate Prediction Center takes that forecast one step further, suggesting December 16 through 23 will be warmer than average; this forecast works against the chance for snow nearing Christmas.