December on track to be 4th warmest in history — breaking record for warmest Christmas Day

CHICAGO - With only a few days left in the year, this month is on track to be one of the warmest Decembers on record in Chicago.

This month is close to taking fourth place for warmest Decembers ever on record, said Gino Izzi, meteorologist with the National Weather Service.

December of 2015 is currently the fourth warmest on record, with an average temperature of 39 degrees.

"Based on the forecast, we’re going to end up very close to that year," Izzi said. "Typically for December the average is 30.5 degrees, so this year it’ll be 8, almost 9 degrees, above normal."

This year is also currently tied for fifth place for having the least snow in December.

The big driving factor for the unseasonably warm weather has been El Niño, an episodic warming of waters in the eastern and western Pacific that affects weather across the globe, Izzi said. December of 2015 also had a very strong El Niño.

A record was broken Monday for the warmest Chicago Christmas Day in history.

"The highest temperature recorded [Monday] was 55 degrees," Izzi said. "Chicago broke the record by 4 degrees."

Despite the warm weather this month, residents should expect a return to typical Chicago winter conditions and normal temperatures in January.

"When we go back to average, it’s going to feel pretty dang cold outside," Izzi said.