The first day of winter is almost here but we won't be feeling those winter like temperatures, at least not for a few days.

Winter officially starts at 12:30 am Thursday.

But it may not exactly feel like it with temperatures still in the fifty's.

So far this December we are seeing average temperatures eight degrees above normal.

So why the mild temperatures?

December's average high temperature for the Valley is roughly 44 degrees.

So far this December we're averaging a high of 52 degrees.

What could be causing the anomaly?

Well we're actually being affected by a strong weather pattern known as La Nina.

La Nina also tends to keep the colder air to the north, a bit higher than usual.

We've also seen storm systems track more from the south, to north.

So you won't notice winter temperatures Thursday.

But because the first day of winter is the darkest day of the year, we will only see 9 hours and 26 minutes of daylight.

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