It’s going to be a wet, hot winter week in NYC

Winter in New York City has kicked off with a blast of warm weather.

The high temperatures are likely to stay for the week, meaning that New Year’s Eve weekend will feel more like mid-March than early January.

That’s the forecast for New York City and New Jersey for the week leading into 2024, according to the National Weather Service.

“Through the whole week, we’re expecting highs to be well above normal,” said NWS meteorologist James Tomasini.

Temperatures are likely to start in the low 40s for most of the week and climb into the 50s during the day.

Meterologist John Homenuk, writing on X, the site formerly known as Twitter, said that the next five days were likely to be “10-13°F warmer than normal” in New York City.

“Any doubt or debate about whether or not this is a torch should now be over,” he wrote.

Wet weather will accompany the unseasonable warmth, with the highest chances of rain expected Wednesday afternoon into Thursday, Tomasini said.

Major rains drenched the region last week, causing the Passaic River in New Jersey to overflow — prompting evacuations of homes in the Passaic County town of Little Falls, and shutting down sections of Routes 20 and 46 in North Jersey.

Residents began returning to their flood-damaged homes late last week, Mayor James Belford Damiano said.

Lighter rains are expected in the region this week, though 1 to 2 inches could fall on Wednesday.

The NWS expects the Passaic River to remain below its flood stage in Little Falls through Friday, but there could be minor flooding in other areas, including Pine Brook in Morris County.

But the fluffy white stuff will stay away – for now.

“It is forecast to be all just plain rain, no wintry precip chances,” said Tomasini.

We are “approaching 700 consecutive days without 1 inch of snowfall,” noted the account New York Metro Weather on X. “Things are bleak.”

Tomasini said the warm weather is simply the result of a pattern that seems to be blanketing much of the…