With record heat expected Friday, a look at Columbia’s Christmas weather superlatives

Remember that time it was 7 degrees on Christmas Day?

Many of you might. It was 32 years ago in 1983 when Columbia set its record-low Christmas temperature.

Fast forward to this Friday, and famously hot Columbia is expected to see potentially record-setting heat on Christmas, with a temperature of 81 predicted by the National Weather Service. The previous high was 79 degrees in 1955.

Thursday also is likely to surpass the record Christmas Eve high temperature of 76 set in 1964. Thursday’s predicted high is 80, according to the NWS.

Here’s a look at some of Columbia’s historical Christmas Eve and Christmas Day weather superlatives, courtesy of NWS meteorological technician Doug Anderson.

Hottest:

Christmas Eve, 76 degrees in 1964

Christmas Day, 79 degrees in 1955

Coldest:

Christmas Eve, 12 degrees in 1983

Christmas Day, 7 degrees in 1983

Rainiest:

Christmas Eve, 2.69 inches in 1924

Christmas Day, 3.06 in 2009

Snowiest:

Trace amounts, probably less than half an inch, were last recorded on Christmas Eve in 1998 and Christmas Day in 2004. Dec. 26, though, saw 1.8 inches fall in 2010.

This story was originally published December 23, 2015 at 3:57 PM.