Southern Ontario warm-weather sets records for Dec. 23

Southern Ontario once again saw record-high warm temperatures Wednesday, particularly in communities like London where the mercury reached levels not seen on this day since 1893.

Environment Canada recorded a temperature of 11.9 C by mid-afternoon in London, surpassing the previous record of 11.1 C set 122 years ago.

"So, 1893 was a warm year, but we're beating itin spades today," said Peter Kimbell, awarning preparedness meteorologist with Environment Canada.

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Windsor broke a 74-year old record with temperatures reaching 12.7 C. The previous high was12.2 C set in 1941.

"We haven't had a beginning of winter that is quite this warm since the winter of 2006-2007," Kimbell said. "We are breaking records in most parts of Ontario that we haven't seen for a long time and that seems to be continuing."

More records are expected to be set Christmas Eve with temperatures in Windsor reaching 15 C. From there, the mercury will drop slightly but will remain at above-normal temperatures even heading into January.

"Into January the forecast is for continuation of above normal, but I hesitate to say that we're going to continue this kind of warmth," he said. "I would fully expect that we will get some snow at some point in January. We will get some cold weather, but we may wind up with, again, a continuation of above-normal temperatures."