Week of Dec. 24, 2025

From the publisher’s desk

A friend of ours visiting us here in Reno announced earlier today that he was hoping for a white Christmas.

The hubby and I responded with a polite-ish but firm: HELL NO!

Snow in the mountains? Yes, please. The ski resorts need it. Those of us who drink water in the Truckee Meadows could greatly use it. But down on the valley floor? Heavens no. Driving in snow sucks. Plus my mom will not leave the house if there’s a mere dusting of snow the ground, and I’d really like to see her on Christmas day, when we’re all supposed to gather at the in-laws’ for prime rib.

While we’re staring down the figurative barrel of a wet, if (hopefully) not white Christmas, much of the country, us included, have been or are dealing with record warmth.

The Washington Post reports:

This Christmas is forecast to become the warmest one on record across the United States.

A predicted average high temperature of 53.9 degrees across the contiguous states would make it the warmest Dec. 25 by a wide margin, surpassing the previous record of 49 degrees in 2005. A nationwide average minimum temperature of 39.7 degrees on Christmas morning is also forecast to be the highest on record. While temperatures on one day of the year aren’t a reliable indicator of climate change, winter temperatures are rising countrywide, especially in the Northeast.

On Christmas Day, more than 100 individual high temperature records are forecast to be neared, tied or broken across parts of 23 western and central states—from California to Indiana—as Santa rides into some towns wearing shorts and a T-shirt. Temperatures are forecast to be 15 to 35 degrees above average across this stretch.

While snow is a possibility here on Christmas, you may have noticed it was rather warm yesterday. In fact, according to the National Weather Service, yesterday’s high was 63—which, according to The Washington Post, set a new record, surpassing the 62 degrees we had on Dec. 23 in 2005.

Thanks to climate change, Christmastime temps in the 60s will likely become more common in the years to come—because Reno is one of the U.S. cities being affected the most.

The Nevada Current reported in October, as we were dealing with a rather mild fall:

Reno’s fall season is heating up faster than any other city in the U.S. and pushing back the date of the average first freeze—when the low temperature hits 32 degrees or colder—by almost six full weeks later than in 1970. 

Reno isn’t alone. An analysis by Climate Central this month found that the first freeze now arrives later in 88% of the 204 cities reviewed by researchers. On average, the first freeze occurred about 12 days later in U.S. cities than in the early 1970s.

The analysis is based on open-access temperature data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) from 1970 to 2024.

Reno saw the biggest delay in the first freeze date compared with 1970 data, according to the Climate Central analysis. The average first freeze in Reno has shifted from the third week in September back in 1970 to the first week in November now—41 days later.

Whatever the weather is tomorrow, have a merry Christmas. Thanks for reading the RN&R!

—Jimmy Boegle, publisher/executive editor