December weather will be frightful, forecast says

TORONTO — M i l d weather in recent weeks will soon be forgotten because winter is on its way with a vengeance, according to new Environment Canada forecasts for the months ahead.

All areas of Canada had a wa r m e r t h a n n o r m a l November with temperatures two to four degrees milder than normal, particul a r ly f rom Edmonton through to St. John’s, N.L.

But rather than remembering the nice transition from fall to winter, Canadians will look back at the end of the month and recall a brutal December, said David Phillips, Environment Canada’s senior climatologist.

“ We’ve had a taste of what’s ahead but [ winter] hasn’t really begun to bite deep and hard across the country. Most Canadians should be pretty happy about the weather so far [ but] it looks like it’s going to be a dramatic change,” he said.

Ontario set a record for the warmest ever stretch of June through November, which was an average of about two degrees warmer than normal, Phillips said.

This year’s hot summer a n d m i l d fall smashed records going back 68 years.

Much of the country will continue to be milder than normal but few people will get to enjoy it — the areas expected to be less cool are the least populated parts of the country.

The areas where most people call home are expected to be colder than normal.

“ From southern British Columbia across the southern part of Canada — where most people live — it looks like a colder than normal December,” Phillips said.

Still, Victoria and Vancouver have the smallest chance of all Canadian cities of having a white Christmas with 11 per cent probability, the forecast said. Canadian Press