🔗 Share this article Prolonged Chill Tightens Hold on the Great White North as US Records Hottest Christmas on Record. A prolonged deep freeze has enveloped a bitter and extended period of frigid weather, with readings persisting from 20 to 40 degrees below zero for an extended duration. This week, the Yukon community of Braeburn saw the mercury drop to -55.7C, representing its most frigid December day in half a century. Prolonged Freeze of Extreme Cold In addition, the locales of Mayo and Dawson suffered through 16 consecutive nights colder than minus 40 degrees, with Mayo plunging to -50.4C at the start of the week. The capital, Whitehorse, likewise saw ten separate nights when readings fell to minus 30 degrees or lower. This Arctic air mass pushed further southward over the festive period. In Edmonton, the Christmas overnight low dipped under -28 degrees Celsius. Boxing Day was expected to bring readings no higher than -20 Celsius through a wide swath, including Edmonton, Montreal, Ottawa and Quebec. Expected to Continue For Days to Come The frigid conditions are predicted to linger through the start of January. Officials have warned that the Yukon could face electricity outages soon, as the system endures record-high pressure from historically high electricity consumption. The lengthy cold snap originates from a stationary polar vortex across the northern part of the continent this month, allowing bitter Arctic air to spill south. Next week, the cold air mass is expected to retreat north slowly, permitting warmer Pacific winds to flow over the US and into parts of southern Canada. Stark Contrast to American Heat Conversely, sections of America recorded the hottest December 25th in their history as temperatures soared about 15-30C above the seasonal average. Across wide regions, the atmosphere was more akin to late spring rather than the end of December. Several states set Christmas Day temperature records. Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, reached 25 degrees Celsius on Christmas, topping the prior high mark of 22 degrees established over forty years ago. Cities including Austin and Dallas, in Texas, and Charlotte, North Carolina similarly saw thermometers rise past the 25C mark. Heat-Dome Effect Fuels Warmth Unseasonable heat is predicted to persist through Boxing Day and the days ahead, with abnormal warmth projected to move through the American Southeast soon. The unseasonable temperatures are powered by a robust atmospheric ridge extending from the desert south-west towards the north and east, which generates a heat-dome phenomenon. Such a configuration results in a widespread high-pressure system blanketing a significant part of the landmass, which holds warm air close to the ground. Sinking atmospheric air undergoes compression and additional heating, allowing unusually warm temperatures to build.