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.

Tuesday’s high reached 72 degrees, marking the third straight day with temperatures in the 70s, according to the National Weather Service. The thermometer won’t be quite that high today, but is expected to reach about 66 degrees, although it will be a rainy day, with an 80 percent chance of precipitation.

There will be a bit of a wintry feel tonight, with a low of 38, but the lows will be fairly mild for the remainder of the week, according to the forecast.

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 about 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.”

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 with lows in the mid-30s.

The highest temperature recorded in December was 78. That was set four times, including today’s date in 1933. The other times were Dec. 7, 1998; Dec. 24, 1964; and Dec. 31, 1951, according to weather service data.

The weather service’s outlook for December calls for a slight tilt of above-normal temperatures, Lee said.

“That doesn’t necessarily mean they will be above, just a tilt in that probability,” she said. “So within that, we can still have cold days and warm days.”

The three-month outlook has no strong signal of above- or below-average temperatures, Lee said.

She said it’s too early for a Christmas forecast. Those computer models typically start going out around Dec. 15.

Bernie Delinski can be reached at 256-740-5739 or bernie.delinski@TimesDaily.com.

Weather records

The highest temperature recorded in December was 78. That was set four times, including today’s date in 1933. The other times were Dec. 7, 1998; Dec. 24, 1964; and Dec. 31, 1951, according to weather service data.