Ken Beatty of Cranberry Township steers his sled with his daughter, Kinsley, 2, on Saturday at North Boundary Park. Despite frigid temperatures, area residents still took advantage of fresh snow the day after Christmas.

Hark, the herald angels sing!

Or maybe that should be “Harold,” the multistate storm system that brought a white Christmas to Butler County and broke the area's snowfall record for Dec. 25.

With heavy snowfall Christmas Eve leading into Christmas Day, the National Weather Service estimates Butler County residents dealt with more than 6 inches of holiday snow.

Shannon Hefferan, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, said the Christmas storm set the stage for a new era of Christmas Day snow records in Pittsburgh.

“We did break our record snowfall in Pittsburgh,” Hefferan said. “We pretty much shattered it.”

The National Weather Service calculated a snowfall of 5.1 inches in Pittsburgh on Friday, which broke the previous 3.5 inch record snowfalls on Christmas Day in 1909 and 1935.December so far has seen a total snowfall of about 26.1 inches in Pittsburgh, according to Hefferan.Hefferan said Western Pennsylvanians should expect to see more snow before the end of winter — even before the end of the year.She said the National Weather Service is already keeping an eye on possible New Year's conditions.“There is a disturbance right around New Year's Eve,” Hefferan said. “(But) that's all up in the air.”Temperatures rose into the 40s Sunday and Monday, leading to significant melting.

Although flooding in parts of Butler County remains a possibility, the National Weather Service's River Report on Monday afternoon indicated the levels of many Western Pennsylvanian rivers are expected to fall over the next two days.The National Weather forecast for Tuesday is looking at sun, with temperatures dipping into the 20s.The extended forecast predicts an 80% chance of rain the night of New Year's Eve. Meteorologists are monitoring the situation, according to Hefferan.In the meantime, Hefferan said the National Weather Service continues to see storms resulting from low-pressure systems coming out of the Rocky Mountains over the Great Plains, picking up moisture as they move across the South and ending in precipitation on the East Coast.“It seems to be the pattern at the moment,” Hefferan said.<i>Eagle staff writer Eric Jankiewicz contributed to this report.</i>

Ava Beatty, 4, of Cranberry tries to catch some snow after coming to a stop at the bottom of one of the sledding hills at North Boundary Park with her father Ken Beatty Saturday. With temperatures in the high teens and low 20s area residents still took advantage of fresh snow the day after Christmas.

Adam Rathfon of Cranberry Township steers his sled with his daughter, Teagan, 10, Saturday at North Boundary Park. County residents may get more opportunities to hit the snowy hills as another winter storm may ring in the new year.