Many Saskatchewanians may be dreaming of a white Christmas, just like the ones we used to know.
With little to no snow on the ground, parts of the province are at risk of seeing its first brown Christmas since 1997, according to Environment Canada.
“With warmer temperatures on and off through till Christmas, I don’t know if that snow is going to survive. We’re not seeing any big systems moving through from now until Christmas Day,” said meteorologist Terri Lang. “In this season, it’s looking more and more likely it’s going to be a bit of a brown Christmas.”
Environment Canada said El Nino patterns are giving Western Canada warmer than average and drier winters.
“We certainly have seen that so far this fall into early winter,” said Lang. “Very little in the way of snow. And of course, it’s been way above average in many, many places.”
It’s not the news that skiers and lovers of all things winter want to hear. The lack of snow is putting a damper on outdoor winter sports such as cross-country skiing.
“No one in the cross-country ski world is very happy with green grass in the middle of December,” said Daniel Fuller, Saskatoon Nordic Ski Club lesson coordinator. “Everyone is ready to ski, people were excited in early December to get going and we just haven’t had snow.”
Fuller said the ski club hasn’t experienced a season like this year and a membership pool of over 600 adults and kids are eagerly awaiting that first big snowfall.
“Right now, we’re just trying to adapt and do what we can with the kids,” he said.
Environment Canada says it only takes two centimetres of snow to declare a white Christmas but with the current El Nino conditions, it seems many Saskatchewan residents can only dream of it.