Florida shatters record HIGH temperatures for December with 86f while the rest of the nation shivers in a big chill

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Temperatures in South Florida soared to record highs of more than 80 degrees Fahrenheit yesterday as the rest of the country was left to shiver in a pre-Christmas big chill.

Floridians flocked to the beaches to soak up the unusually warm weather as Miami shattered records with a high temperature of 86 degrees on Monday.

University of Miami tropical weather expert Brian McNoldy said the atypical temperatures were due to confluence of warm weather fronts.  

Temperatures in South Florida (left, on Monday in Clearwater) soared to record highs of more than 80 degrees Fahrenheit this December as the rest of the country shivers in a pre-Christmas big chill (the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation, in North Daokta, right)  

Cold fronts that typically cool off the area are fizzling before they arrive. And, to the south, a high pressure ridge keeps pushing along warm air from the tropics.

It is the second warm December for South Florida. Or, as McNoldy says, the area has 'gotten gypped out of two nice Decembers in a row.'

McNoldy says last year's heat — accompanied by record rainfall — was part of an intense El Nino. But this year's heat is much more localized. 

Meanwhile, the rest of the country has been left to freeze.

Florida may be warming up but temperatures in the rest of the nation will get as cold as 15F in Boise, Idaho, as the U.S. braces for a pre-Christmas chill

Florida is hitting record temperatures for this time of year, in the high 70s F, as the rest of the country freezes 

Temperatures are expected to warm slightly the east, where Miami will stay a balmy 68 F, while the Midwest will plunge to temperatures of 5 F

Even Hawaii has been hit with snowfall as the summits of volcanoes Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa on the Big Island were blanketed on Sunday and Monday.

Mauna Kea park rangers reported 'significant snowfall with continuous thunder and lightning over the summits,' the National Weather Service in Honolulu tweeted on Sunday.

Elsewhere on the island, temperatures were typically mild, hitting the 80sF in Honolulu.

This is the second time this winter the peaks, which are almost 14,000ft high, have seen snowfall after heavy snow fell in the first week of December. Snowfall on the volcanoes is not rare, although it is not a yearly event. 

'As long as we have deep enough clouds to support ice crystals, and when you have cold enough temperatures at the summit level, you can get snowfall,' said Matthew Foster, a staff meteorologist with the weather service in Honolulu.

Hawaii has been hit with snowfall as the summits of volcanoes Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa on the Big Island were blanketed on Sunday and Monday

Mauna Kea park rangers reported 'significant snowfall with continuous thunder and lightning over the summits,' over the weekend

This is the second time this winter the peaks have been covered in snow. In this image made from webcam video provided by Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope, the CFHT telescope on the summit of Mauna Kea on Hawaii's Big Island is covered in snow on Thursday, December 1

'We'll probably see three to five snow events a year during the cold season. Some years we might not get any, some years we might get more,' said Foster. 

The dangerous, record-low temperatures that kept most of the Midwest inside over the weekend did not let up in Chicago, which became one of the coldest places on Earth - and beyond on Monday. 

Temperatures in the Windy City fell to minus 6 degrees with a wind chill of minus 20 at 9am on Monday morning, besting Mars by 4 degrees. Minus 13 degrees was recorded at Chicago O'Hare International Airport overnight on Sunday making the city even colder than the South Pole in Antarctica around 4am.

Temperatures also fell to the teens in St Joseph, Michigan, becoming so cold that an entire lighthouse on Lake Michigan froze over. 

Icy weather put a damper on a number of holiday festivities in the Plains and Midwest over the weekend, before the cold front pushed into the Ohio Valley and the Eastern Seaboard on Sunday.

Bismarck, North Dakota, posted a new record low for the date of December 17 with 31 degrees below zero on Saturday before midnight, according to the National Weather Service.

A man walks through snow in the Canalside section of Buffalo, New York on Monday, December 19, 2016. 

One college student snapped this breathtaking aerial view of Minneapolis as she flew home for winter break on Monday

Temperatures were still subzero in the Big Apple, but were expected to rise higher and higher throughout the week 

Texas was also hit by chilly weather, despite the fact that temperatures had been recorded at 75 degrees just the day before

Linton, North Dakota, was even colder at minus 33 degrees early Sunday.

In South Dakota, the city of Huron set a new low for Sunday's date of minus 31 degrees. Another record fell in Marshall, Minnesota, where it was 31 below zero. Spencer, Iowa's negative 27 degrees was also a record-breaker.

Snow and freezing rain led to numerous highway accidents, some serious.

Perhaps the biggest accident was in Baltimore, when a tanker carrying gasoline skidded off a highway and exploded, killing two people and causing a nearly 70-vehicle pileup on Interstate 95, authorities said.

Hospital officials said nearly two dozen people were treated for injuries including broken bones and head trauma.

The Midwest will remain under Arctic conditions into midweek, with the mercury plunging to just 5 degrees F in Boise, Idaho on Wednesday evening. 

The Bay Area in Northern California also got a rare taste of winter on Monday as temperatures fell to below freezing overnight, causing the National Weather Service to issue a freeze warning until 8am, on Monday morning.

A frost advisory was also issued for areas by the coast that were experiencing temperatures in the low 30s, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. 

While most of America is experiencing freezing temperatures and snowfall, Floridians enjoy an unseasonably warm 81 degree day at Clearwater Beach, Florida on December 19

In Chicago, it was so cold that ice formed on Lake Michigan, while Chicagoans were no doubt glad to hear they slept through the minus 13 degree temperature recorded in the city around 4am, making it even colder than the South Pole in Antarctica

Record-low temperatures and strong winds transformed this lighthouse in St Joseph, Michigan into a stunning ice castle 

Chicagoans bundled themselves from head to toe as they braved weather that was colder than the planet Mars

The National Weather Service reported that the state would feel slightly warmer conditions later on Monday but some areas would still be stuck in the upper 20s and lower 30s, according to San Jose Mercury News.

However, temperatures will return to the mid-50s and low-60s for much of the northern part of the Golden State later this week, promising a fairly warm Christmas for Californians.

In fact, a 'gentle warmup' is expected in the days leading up to Christmas, according to the National Weather Service.

The East Coast is feeling warmer after a strong cold front brought temperatures more than 10 degrees below normal in many areas for this time of year.

Sunny and partly cloudy skies will be back and temperatures will also moderate across the Upper Midwest and Great Lakes region after an especially chilly Monday.

Below average temperatures will hit the southern US, while some rain and mountain snow will help those hoping to ski and snowboard this week in the Pacific Northwest.