Chilly today, balmy for Christmas

The ghost of last week’s warm, damp weather will return in time for Christmas, with a high temperature back in the mid-60s forecast for Thursday.

But first, a frigid interlude.

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Brad Swenson, Bemidji Pioneer/AP

Ice-fishing enthusiasts brave the freezing weather on south Lake Bemidji, Minn. Saturday afternoon, Dec. 20, 2008. The temperature had already slid below zero Farenheit at 4 p.m. A new storm socked the northwest while the Midwest and Northeast tried to dig out from heavy snow. Story

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Monday’s high in metro Atlanta will only reach 38, following a blustery night when temperatures dipped into the high-teens across the metro area in the wake of a cold front. Readings at 6 a.m. Monday included 18 degrees in Canton and Gainesville and 19 at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, with a wind chill of 5 degrees.

With clear skies overheard, there were no general flight delays Monday morning at Hartsfield-Jackson. But flights to New York’s La Guardia Airport were delayed an average of 1 hour, 14 minutes due to conditions there, the Federal Aviation Administration said.

Monday night’s low will fall to 25 before the warm-up begins on Tuesday, when a high of 50 is forecast, the National Weather Service said.

Then, expect unseasonably mild temperatures, with a high of 63 Wednesday and 66 on Thursday, Christmas Day. The best chance for rain will come overnight Wednesday into Christmas morning.

“It’s going to look an awful like last week,” with overcast skies and showers, said forecaster Robert Beasley at the weather service’s office in Peachtree City.

Expect about a quarter-inch total rainfall for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, Beasley said.

Rain should end by the weekend, but warm temperatures will stick around, with highs in the mid-60s expected through Sunday.

— Staff reporter Margaret Newkirk contributed to this story.