Weekend will be ‘very Christmassy’
Niagara is in store for a white Christmas.
“We could actually have flakes in the air on Christmas Eve night, and continuing through Christmas morning, which some folks would certainly welcome,” said Michael Carter, a meteorologist with The Weather Network.
“It will be very Christmassy looking.”
With streams of Arctic air descending straight from the North Pole, The Weather Network is forecasting one of the coldest Christmases in quite some time for parts of Canada.
Unsettled weather is predicted for Ontario heading into the final weekend before Christmas, and the potential for another system to impact southern areas during Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.
“It’s certainly not going to be a quiet Christmas, that’s for sure,” said Carter.
“We have a very active period coming up to finish the month of December.”
He said some parts of Niagara still has snow on the ground, even though the area has experienced some mild days.
“But with the active weather that’s coming in, I think there is a very, very good chance that you guys will have a white Christmas this year in the Niagara peninsula — almost guaranteed.”
Carter said beginning late day Thursday, and continuing through the day Friday, a “good wallop” of system snow is expected for Niagara.
“Certainly five to 10 centimetres is not out of the question — it’s a little bit moisture starved, but there’s plenty of cold air around. Then we have a little bit more challenging of a system for Saturday continuing into early Christmas Eve that we’re going to have to watch very closely,” he said.
“We’re pouring over the forecast models with this one because it is going to be a bit of a tricky call. But I think that one for Niagara still should be mostly snow, with the chance to just briefly on Saturday perhaps pop up above the freezing mark and get a little bit of mix, or maybe a threat for some ice to develop during the day on Saturday.
“Saturday certainly is looking like a challenging day both forecast wise and travel wise.”
Carter said a lot of people thinking about “sneaking out” early Friday or Saturday for the Christmas holiday could “certainly have some travel difficulties.”
He said there will probably be a little bit of a break and clearing later in the day Friday that could “give us a window of opportunity to sort of take care of those last-minute errands” before precipitation moves back into the area Saturday.
Carter said the snow should taper off for Sunday.
“If you’re going to go visit grandma this weekend, Sunday is definitely you’re opportunity to do that.”
“With the cold air in place, and temperatures sort of plunging into early next week with Christmas Day following on Monday, we could see another system develop, and some of the models are certainly indicating that,” he said.
“Confidence is increasing that we’ll see an early week weather system (leading to a white Christmas).”
As for those planning to attend the free annual outdoor New Year’s Eve celebration in Niagara Falls, Carter said “I certainly can guarantee the cold.”
“We’re looking at temperatures the week between Christmas and New Year’s colder than really anything we saw last winter,” he said.
“High sort of deep in negative territory, -8C, -9C-type high temperatures, and then of course even colder at night.”
Carter said with that cold air in place, some lake-effect bands could come in.
“We could even have a threat for some system snow. Of course it’s a little far out to talk specifics about that, but cold for sure, and active, so we would certainly not rule out the possibility for some system snow for New Year’s Eve as well.”