The week of Christmas should be unseasonably mild, lacking any snowstorms in Southern Manitoba.
That is according to the Senior Climatologist for Environment Canada. David Phillips says temperatures this week were colder than normal. And then things change.
"Next week, it's going to be a warm week," says Phillips.
In fact, Phillips says residents of southern Manitoba can expect a high of around -3 degrees for Christmas Eve and possibly warming up to a high of zero for Christmas Day. And, he says there do not appear to be any major storms looming for the week of Christmas. He jokes that this may not be welcome news for those with a snowblower or snowboard under the tree.
"So, people will be able to get out and about, do the last-minute Christmas shopping, picking up all those things," he says. "It's important because a lot of travelling, people visiting Grandma and people coming in."
And, Phillips says it looks as though the pleasant weather will be felt in more than just southern Manitoba. He says the long-range forecast shows warmer than normal weather from coast to coast from December 23rd to 29th. And, he says they are not forecasting any major weather systems to roll through.
"Weather is very important at this time of the year because everybody is out and about and they are travelling and they are flying from one place to another," he explains.
Phillips says the ground in southern Manitoba looks much different than it did one year ago.
As you may recall, there was a chance last year that we could experience a brown Christmas. A brown Christmas happens when there is less than two centimetres of snow on the ground at 6 am CST on December 25th. The weeks leading up to Christmas last year were quite mild, lacking snow. Phillips says it ended up being a white Christmas, but just barely.
Not only has there been more snow this month, but it has also been colder than last year. Phillips reminds us that not once during the entire winter last year did the mercury fall below -30 degrees.
Meanwhile, winter officially arrived in Manitoba on Saturday at 3:21 am.