Hope you dreamed of a brown Christmas

By Gillian Slade on December 20, 2018.

The photographer suggests this deer seems to be waiting for the AMA office on Thirteenth Avenue to open for business. Note the green grass, and get used to it, for Environment Canada officials say were are definitely in for a brown Christmas this year.--SUBMITTED PHOTO RHONDA PATTERSON

gslade@medicinehatnews.com @MHNGillianSlade

Forget about the dream of a white Christmas this year.

“There will clearly be no white Christmas,” said Dave Phillips, a senior climatologist with Environment Canada. “A white Christmas is two centimetres of snow that sits on the ground.”

Even though flurries are forecasted for Christmas Day it will not be enough to get the required amount, he says. Medicine Hat has historically enjoyed a white Christmas 75 per cent of the time, but that has fallen to 55 in recent years.

“Just a little better than flipping a coin,” said Phillips. “Our winters are not what they used to be.”

In the past you could count on snow that fell around Halloween still being there by Easter, he explained.

In 2015 there was 1 cm of snow on the ground, in 2016 there were 3 cm of snow and last year southeast Alberta qualified with 2 cm, said Phillips.

The good news is travel will be easier for all those making a journey to be with loved ones for the Holidays. The weather will also not be an excuse for house guests to outstay their welcome, Phillips said with a chuckle.

Winter arrives officially on Friday with a high of 5 C.

Pacific breezes that come our way tend to be Chinooks and therefore the temperatures soar, said Phillips.

“Even at night to see temperatures above freezing, I mean tomorrow night (Thursday) we’ll see 5 C. It should be -15 C,” said Phillips.

Normal highs in Medicine Hat should be about -5 C with lows of about -15 C.

There have been a range of highs at 7 C or 8 C and even when it has cooled off, temperatures are still above normal, he said. On Saturday and Sunday Hatters should see temperatures that are closer to about the freezing mark and on Christmas Day down to -10 C.

“But then we look beyond that and it’s not as if we are going to go into a Siberian Express, Polar Vortex deep freeze. Christmas Day may be the coldest for the next week. We see temperatures that go back up to -2 C and -3 C for highs,” said Phillips.

Any flakes of snow that may appear in the interim will be long gone with the sunshine and shirtsleeves kind of weather we are basking in, he said.