(NewsNation Now) — Christmas Day didn’t feel like winter for much of the South and Southeast.
Santa needed a costume change as he flew through Texas overnight.
From the heart of Texas through mid-Mississippi Valley, temps were running 25-35 degrees above normal. And record or near-record heat was seen in the southern and central Plains through the mid-Atlantic states.
Lows Saturday morning were above seasonal highs. Low clouds and patchy areas of fog made for a gray start but were expected to give way to afternoon sunshine.
Highs in the mid-80s will be nearly 20 degrees warmer than average for Saturday. A forecast high of 84° in Austin would be the second warmest Christmas on record.
Meanwhile, in the West, parts of California are getting a white Christmas after all, with snowfall pounding mountains across the state.
However, other areas of California saw a wet and rainy Christmas as storms continued to drench the state, causing flash flooding and evacuations in some areas over the holiday period.
The Los Angeles area is likely to see rain and mountain snow for the next week, according to the National Weather Service, with temperatures significantly below normal through the middle of the week.
The San Diego area should see scattered showers, with heavy snow in the San Bernardino and Riverside County mountains, and precipitation possibly going into Thursday.
The storms across the West, which could drop rain and snow over much of the region into next week and plunge the Pacific Northwest into a lengthy cold snap, follow a now-departed atmospheric river that delivered copious amounts of precipitation earlier this week.
Rain and snow records were broken in Nevada and state officials in Oregon declared an emergency ahead of the freezing temperatures, snow and ice.
Recent forecasts show at least an inch of snow is likely to fall Sunday in the Seattle and Portland regions, which don’t typically see snow.
But forecasters and state officials say the main concern is cold temperatures in the region, with daytime highs next week struggling to reach above freezing, which is likely to impact people experiencing homelessness and those without adequate access to heating.
The Northeast is also not free from inclement weather. Winter weather advisories are in effect for parts of the region, largely due to freezing rain.
Montana and North Dakota are getting down to sub-zero temperatures with highs in the single digits Saturday night and Sunday. At least 5-10 inches of snow are expected Sunday night.
The Associated Press and NewsNation affiliate KXAN contributed to this report.