Will Edmontonians wake up to snow on Christmas morning? It’s going to be a bit of a gamble, according to Jesse Beyer.
Global Edmonton’s chief meteorologist said it looks like the city will be on the cusp of two very different weather systems on Dec. 25.
“As we look ahead to Christmas Day, Mother Nature isn’t making it easy on meteorologists and weather forecasters,” Beyer said.
“With the expected polar vortex dropping extremely cold arctic air into the eastern prairies at the same time an upper ridge will be moving Pacific air into the west, making a long-range forecast for Christmas Day in Edmonton will be a challenge.”
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One option is Edmonton could see chilly — but not downright frigid — temperatures and a few centimetres of snow.
“With our region expected to be right in the middle of the transition zone between these two contrasting air masses, I’m leaning towards a white Christmas, two to five cm of fresh snow and highs close to -10 C on Christmas Day in Edmonton, as of now,” Beyer said on Wednesday.
“If the Arctic air is farther west, we could be colder. On the flip side, if the Pacific air moves farther west, we could be warmer. At this point, only time will tell.”
Given the current models, Beyer said it’s hard to say exactly what conditions Edmontonians will wake up to on Christmas morning. He said just a 200-kilometre difference in the boundaries of these systems could mean a temperature difference of nearly 20 C “with completely different surface conditions.”
“These are two major air masses with completely different pressure/moisture/temperature,” Beyer explained.
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Further south, it looks like Calgary will get a white Christmas, along with the lower half of Alberta.
Environment Canada technically defines a white Christmas as the presence of two or more centimetres of snow on the ground at 7 a.m. ET on Dec. 25.
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Across the country, places that already have snow on the ground will likely keep it for Christmas. However, forecasters have some doubt about conditions for the rest of the country, thanks to those unstable weather systems.
The Weather Network’s Chief Meteorologist Chris Scott says residents across much of Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic Canada may not know if a white Christmas is in the cards until the day itself.
He says prospects for snow are more likely in most of British Columbia, southern Alberta, parts of Saskatchewan and northern Canada.
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What’s most certain is a spell of bitterly cold weather that Scott says will settle in just after Christmas from Saskatchewan to all points east.
However, he agrees people dreaming of a white Christmas may have to wait until the last minute to see if their hopes are fulfilled.
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— With files from Michelle McQuigge, The Canadian Press