photo by: Shawn Valverde/Special to the Journal-World

A crowd cheers as the lights are lit in downtown Lawrence on Massachusetts Street on Friday, November 28, 2025.

A white Christmas is not in the forecast for northeastern Kansas this year, as record-breaking warm temperatures are anticipated during the holiday.

While no snow is disappointing for a lot of people, according to a social media post from the National Weather Service Office in Topeka, having a white Christmas in northeast Kansas already doesn’t occur very often – only 15% to 20% of the time.

But the NWS is projecting some unique weather for Christmas Day, and their social media said a high temperature of 60 degrees or greater on Christmas Day has only been recorded 12 times since records began in 1887.

For Lawrence, on Christmas Eve this Wednesday, there is expected patchy fog in the morning and it will become partly sunny throughout the day with a high of 67 degrees and a low of 43. On Christmas, it will be partly sunny with a high of 70 degrees and a low of 47 degrees.

Some examples of cities breaking these records include the cities of Topeka and Concordia. The current record high for Christmas Day in Topeka is 68 degrees, which was documented in 1922 and 2016, and it is anticipated to get as high as 74 degrees on Thursday. Concordia’s record high for Christmas Day was documented at 64 degrees in 1950 and 2016. It’s expected to reach a high around 68 degrees on this year’s holiday.

Following the holiday on Friday, Lawrence will have a high of 67 degrees and a low of 45 degrees. And for travelers on the weekend, Saturday will be mostly sunny with a high near 64 degrees. Southwest wind 5 to 10 miles per hour will become northwest in the afternoon with gusts that could get as high as 20 miles per hour. The low on Saturday will be around 27 degrees. On Sunday, temperatures will drop significantly with a high of 36 degrees and a low of around 18.

There will be an increased patrol Friday through Jan. 2 from the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office as well as the Lawrence Police Department as a part of the Taking Down DUI traffic enforcement campaign “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over.” Grant funds are allowing for extra deputies on patrol working to remove impaired drivers from roads and highways in the county.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, every day about 34 people in the United States die in drunk-driving crashes – which is one person every 42 minutes.

In a social media post from the Sheriff’s Office, it says to be a responsible driver during the holiday season, make sure to plan a safe drive home if planning to drink. If someone has been drinking, take their keys and arrange a sober ride home, and if people see an impaired driver on the road, contact local law enforcement.