Photo by Crystal Nelson Motorists drive past the 45th parallel sign on U.S.-23 on Friday. A record number of Michiganders are expected to travel this holiday season, starting this weekend.

ALPENA — A warmer-than-normal Christmas is forecast this year, which should help holiday travels but could diminish chances for a white Christmas.

Meteorologist Jeff Lutz, with the National Weather Service office in Gaylord, said above-average temperatures are expected through much of next week. Alpena’s normal high temperature is about 30 degrees, Lutz said, but the temperature is not expected to fall below 30 degrees next week.

“We’re expecting fairly mild temperatures during this week, including on Christmas Day, which is at least 35 degrees, with the current forecast,” he said. “There may still be some snow on the ground, but there may not be what we call measurable snow. It may be less than an inch, and we’re not really expecting any weather system to come through at all through the next couple of days, especially.”

The snow depth on Thursday was 2 inches in Alpena.

Lutz said there is a 20% chance of precipitation on Christmas. He said computer models keep hinting at a chance of precipitation on Wednesday, but “it’s pretty weak” and “at most would be flurries.”

The warmer weather comes at a time when a record number of people are expected to travel for the holidays beginning this weekend. AAA estimates 115.6 million Americans will travel from Dec. 21 through Jan. 1.

Dec. 26 is expected to be the worst day for travel delays because of congestion.

More than 3.6 million of those travelers are expected to be Michigan residents, AAA says, with 3.3 million of those Michiganders driving to their holiday destinations, 201,800 expected to fly, and 112,700 expected to travel via buses, trains or on cruise ships.

AAA spokeswoman Adrienne Woodland said in a statement that, with unemployment at historically low levels and improvements in both disposable income and net worth, holiday cheer is at an all-time high.

“Travelers in Michigan should be getting used to crowded highways and airports, as this marks the sixth straight year of new record-high travel volumes for the year-end holidays,” she said.

Although temperatures are expected to be mild for Christmas, Lutz warns people not to count

winter out. He says the warmer-than-normal weather is only a one- or two-week thing.

“Some of our coldest winters have started off somewhat on a mild side or had some sort of a mild Christmastime, and then, all of a sudden, we get hit with something in January or February,” he said.

Crystal Nelson can be reached at 989-358-5687 or cnelson@thealpenanews.com.