Unexpected Warm Weather in December

Observation by Brandon Fleming:

I should of taken pictures when it was still warm and not frozen. It is unusual because last year during this time it never did that. When I was a kid I never seen it like that in the winter time after Christmas. During the 3 days it got warm and the water going its usual route as it does in the spring when it thaws out, but this was a week after winter began. I was not expecting it to happen in the winter, because as a kid I used to slide down the hill, but now you cant slide down the hill unless you wanna get wet going through the water.

Rick Thoman with Alaska Center for Climate Assessment and Policy writes:

Attached is a graphic showing temperatures from the Anvik Airport Dec 18-31, 2021 showing sustained and repeated temperatures above freezing. Based on climate records from Galena, Unalakleet and Bethel, the last time there was sustained thawing weather in late December in the region was in 1985. There were similarly warm late Decembers in 1977 and 1944 too.