The eastern United States has experienced an unusually warm December this year and Christmas Day was no exception.

East Coast cities like Washington, New York and Boston that often get snow at this time of year are experiencing record high temperatures between 15 and 20 degrees Celsius.

Most people left their winter jackets at home for holiday activities, and, with no cold air to hold them back, some cherry trees in the nation’s capital have blossomed, giving the city a spring feel and look.

On Christmas Eve, parts of the mid-Atlantic and New England states were just as warm as they were on the Fourth of July, according to the private forecasting service AccuWeather.

Record highs were set in many cities, including Washington. New York officially recorded its warmest-ever Christmas Day temperature.

The abnormal warmth is expected to stay for several more days along the U.S. Eastern Seaboard, according to government forecasters with the U.S. National Weather Service.

It is a different story on the West Coast, where mountainous portions of Southern California endured freezing high temperatures and snowfall Friday.

Mountain areas that supply much of the state’s water supply have above-average snowpacks, raising hope that a severe four-year drought in the area is easing, though not yet coming to an end.
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