COLDWATER, MI (WTVB) – Residents across Branch County and southern Michigan who were counting on a picturesque white Christmas may be disappointed this year as a significant warm-up is forecast for the holiday week.
Following a December that began with record-setting cold and heavy snow, a major atmospheric pattern shift is currently underway. Forecasters at the National Weather Service and NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center are confident that unseasonably mild air will dominate the region through the end of December 2025.
While typical high temperatures for late December in southern Michigan hover in the mid-30s, current models indicate a high probability of temperatures reaching the 40s and potentially the mid 50s on Christmas Day . The record high temperature in Coldwater is 62-degrees set in 1982.
The impending warmth, combined with potential rain, is expected to melt the existing snow pack across the southern half of the Lower Peninsula.
Most of southern Michigan, including the Coldwater area, is now favored to see a “green Christmas” rather than a white one.
On a positive note for holiday travelers, the lack of widespread ice and snow should lead to safer road conditions compared to the stormy start of the month.
Meteorologists warn that while Christmas week will be mild, the warmth is not expected to last indefinitely. Long-range outlooks for early January 2026 suggest a return to more seasonal cold and an active jet stream, which could bring a return of wintry weather shortly after the new year begins.
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