BLOOMINGTON - Hard to believe Sunday is the first day of winter - according the calendar - even though its feels like winter started weeks ago with below-average December temperatures.

Most people, including weather researchers, consider the winter months to be December, January and February, said Jim Angel, climatologist with the Illinois Water Survey in Champaign. So if people feel more like they are well into winter, it's because they are, he said.

As the first day of winter, it's also the winter solstice - when there are the fewest hours of daylight in North America - but the temperatures won't likely break any records.

The highest temperature on this date was 60 degrees in 1941 and 1967 in Peoria. The record low was minus 18 degrees in 1963 and 1989, also in Peoria, said Matt Barnes, of the National Weather Service in Lincoln.

Today's low is predicted to be 4 degrees, with a high of about 10. But on average it has been a colder December.

National Weather Service records show that it's about 6.4 degrees cooler compared to average December temperatures.

"It looks like December will go down in the record books as below normal," Angel said.

That is in stark contrast to the almost 30-year-trend toward milder winters in Illinois, he said. Last year, December temperatures were also colder than usual.

The December temperature comparisons for Normal aren't available this year. Darcy Loy of the Illinois State University's campus service/grounds department said there has been a glitch with equipment this month, but the equipment will likely be back on track next month.

Compared to the rest of the world, Central Illinois is bucking a yearlong trend. Globally, 2008 is on track to be one of the 10 warmest years on record based on the combined average of worldwide land and ocean surface temperatures, according to a preliminary analysis of National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, N.C.

Across the U.S., the average November temperature was 44.5 degrees or 2 degrees above the 20th century average, according to NOAA.

The agency predicts that trend will continue in January, February and March. In Central Illinois temperatures are expected to be slightly warmer than average.

There will be precipitation, but what kind is still unclear. "We don't know if that will be rain or snow," Barnes said.

Despite the recent icy rains and snow, Central Illinois has had average December precipitation, he said.

This weekend will be marked with cold temperatures in the single digits and winds up to 20 to 30 mph, Barnes said.

As for this week, snow is possible on Tuesday and Wednesday.

"We might get a white Christmas," he said.

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Let it snow

On average, the Twin City area gets about 26 inches of snow every year. The chart shows average snowfall and other snow facts.

Month…..Avg. snowfall

January…..6.6 inches

February…..5.3 inches

March…..5.5 inches

April…..0.9 inches

November…..2.2 inches

December…..5.8 inches

Other key winter facts:

Average annual snowfall: 26.3 inches

Most snowfall in a year: 57.9 inches in 1960

Least snowfall in a year: 3.6 inches in 1990

Earliest recorded snowfall: 0.4 inches on Sept. 25, 1942

Latest recorded snowfall: 2.5 inches on April 17, 1953

Source: Illinois State University