Record high temp recorded in Cape on Christmas Day

The National Weather Service (NWS) reports it has kept a detailed daily record of high temperatures for Cape Girardeau since 1960.

On Christmas Day, the mercury reached a record setting 74 degrees in Cape, shattering the previous holiday mark of 67 set in 2019. Christmas Day records were also set in Paducah, Evansville and Carbondale -- with the highest temperature in the region, 77, recorded in Poplar Bluff.

There are pluses and minuses to the unseasonably warm weather.

Some retailers experience extra business from customers able to be outside doing do-it-yourself home repairs.

Golf courses earn revenue usually lost in late December.

On the minus side of the ledger are the ski resorts not operating and the lost revenue from depleted sales of snow-related equipment that are normally big sellers at this time of year.

According to The Weather Company, weather is one of the largest external swing factors in business performance, responsible for nearly a half trillion dollars of economic impact in the U.S. every year.

The regional warmth appears short-lived.

NWS, in its extended forecast, reports above-average temperatures will continue into the new year, with local temperatures expected to dip into the upper 30s for a high on Sunday,

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