Much of the Northeast has basked in above-normal warmth so far in December, and while that will continue for the next several days, AccuWeather forecasters say that the clock is ticking on the milder weather.

Before any cooldown arrives in the Northeast, the warmest day of this week is expected to occur on Thursday. This will continue the theme of much of this month. For example, only three of the first 15 days of December have been below normal in New York City, Philadelphia and Baltimore.

Thursday, Dec. 16, 2021, will be quite the opposite of what occurred exactly one year earlier in the region.

"A year to the day when a storm brought Binghamton, New York, over 40 inches of snow on Dec. 16 and into the 17th, this Thursday, the forecast instead calls for a record high temperature on Dec. 16," remarked AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Dan Pydynowski.

"AccuWeather is forecasting a high of 56 F in Binghamton this Thursday, which would break the record of 54 degrees set in 1971," said Pydynowski.

Typically on Dec. 16, Binghamton barely climbs above freezing, with a normal high of just 34 degrees.

Potential records will not be limited to Binghamton. In fact, cities from northern New England to the I-95 corridor could all be in line for records on Thursday.

Philadelphia is expected to approach the daily record of 68 on Thursday while New York City is currently forecast to tie its daily record for the date. Both cities' daily record highs for Dec. 16 go back to 1971. Farther north, Burlington, Vermont, is projected to top its daily record of 54 that has stood since 1982.

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The warmth will begin to dissipate when a cold front moves through the Northeast on Thursday night. Although that will bring an end to the record-challenging warmth, temperatures will still be higher than normal for mid-December.

By Saturday, an area of low pressure will develop along the front. As the low moves east-northeastward along the front, a steady rain is expected to fall in much of Ohio, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. However, an area of high pressure in Quebec will work to funnel colder air into New England. This will lead to the potential for snow to fall in portions of southern Ontario, upstate New York and New England.

Even in locations where wintry precipitation is not expected, conditions by the end of the weekend and into next week will trend closer to normal in the entire region.

"Although there does not appear to be any true Arctic air in the offing for the Northeast for the days leading up to Christmas, it will feel much more like December with temperatures generally within a few degrees of normal," stated Pydynowski.

There is a possibility that a storm track along the northern tier of the U.S. will tap into enough cold air to produce snow next week, increasing the odds for a white Christmas from the Great Lakes to part of the Northeast. Even without a significant accumulation of natural snow, lower and more seasonable temperatures should allow many ski resorts to make snow, especially at night.