Thoughts of a white Christmas were all but banished as temperatures rose to unseasonably warm this December.
Critters normally in hibernation and brumation — hibernation for cold-blooded animals — were poking their heads out even on Christmas Eve, like the bee who stung a reporter at Cruse Dog Park or the black rat snake former Outdoors Reporter Wes Johnson found on the Fellows Lake bike trail.
Meteorologist Justin Titus, with the National Weather Service Springfield office, said there have been at least six different days of record-breaking temperatures, making the monthly average temperatures for this December the highest ranking, as of data collected Sunday.