With less than a week until 2024 and temperatures set to reach into the 50s on Thursday, it’s easy to forget it’s winter in central Pennsylvania.

This December has been unseasonably warm with very little snow and temperatures holding steady in the mid-40s. With a mean monthly temperature of 38.9 degrees, this December is set to be one of the warmest, according to climate data from Penn State. With less than a week left in the year, this December is ranked as the 115th snowiest out of 128 recorded years.

But despite temperatures expected to reach up to 52 degrees on Thursday, it still would not be a record for State College. The hottest Dec. 28 on record was in 1971, when temps reached a startling 63 degrees.

With such high temps and low levels of snowfall, many are asking why this December feels so much like spring. Tom Kines, a senior meteorologist at AccuWeather, said the jet stream is to blame — or thank — for the milder weather.

“The jet stream has been northwest, allowing the mild air from the south to get up here,” Kines said. “Unless you’re a skier or maybe even a snowmobile enthusiast, you’re thinking this is great.”

Snow has been lacking in the State College area this season, with only 0.7 inches recorded to date from the National Weather Service, far from the normal 6.8 inches of snow the area typically receives by this time.

Although the weather is unusual, having 40 and 50 degree days is not unheard of in late December. (2021 also saw an average monthly temperature of 39 degrees for December.) But don’t put away your weather coats and shovels yet. As weather patterns shift in January, Kines said temperatures will drop and the possibilities for snow open up.

“The mild weather gets trimmed a bit over the weekend, probably in the next week, although we’re not looking for any frigid weather or unbearable cold or anything like that,” Kines said. “But just getting it back to where it should be at this time of year.”