It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas.

But it sure is feeling a lot like springtime.

With the jet stream trapping cold air in Canada, the Shoals and much of the nation are experiencing unusually warm temperatures for December.

Today’s high is expected to reach 71 degrees, marking the third straight day with temperatures in the 70s, according to the National Weather Service. A noticeable change will be the addition of rainfall, with the chance of precipitation listed at 70 percent.

That could bring a spring-like storm tonight, with some storms capable or carrying brief wind gusts of 25 to 30 mph, lightning strikes and heavy downpours.

The Shoals experienced highs of 74 Sunday and Monday, with Sunday’s mark tying a record for the area, officials said. Normal highs for early December are in the mid-50s.

Wednesday’s high will be near 66, with an 80 percent chance of rain. There will be a bit of a wintry feel Wednesday night, with a low of 38.

Jennifer Lee, a meteorologist for the weather service office in Huntsville, said the warm trend will continue at least through the week.

It calls for highs in the mid-60s to around 70 at least through Monday, with lows in the 50s.

“What’s happened is, in the basic sense of it, the cold air that sometimes moves into the Southeast during this early winter-late fall period has been trapped up in Canada,” Lee said. “The jet stream is such that it’s keeping it trapped up there. In areas across most of the Southeast, temperatures were unseasonably warm this weekend.

“However it’s not unusual to see temperatures like this in December. It’s just one of those months when we can see days in the 70s and nights in 40s.”