No snow? Mild Alberta pattern threatens a 26-year Christmas streak
The lack of snow across Alberta may lead to a rare trifecta we haven’t seen on Christmas Day since 1997
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas…as long as you don’t look outside.
There's a noteworthy lack of snow on the ground across a vast swath of southern Alberta heading into this holiday weekend.
We’re on track to see a rare ‘trifecta’ of snowless Christmas mornings across the province’s three biggest cities, a feat not seen since the blockbuster El Niño winter of 1997.
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Above-seasonal temperatures are the norm across Canada this month, taking a chomp out of the typical snow and cold that encroach on the country through December.
While it’s been hard to build much snowpack anywhere from coast to coast, it’s been especially tough in Alberta as few snowfalls and temperatures climbing above freezing make it hard to keep much frozen precipitation on the ground.
Folks along the QE2 corridor don’t have to turn their pajamas inside out hoping for snow around Christmas. At least one of Calgary, Red Deer, or Edmonton usually has snow on the ground by Christmas morning.
But it’ll be a very close call this year.
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All three communities are facing low odds of a white Christmas this year. The last time Calgary, Red Deer, and Edmonton all saw a snowless Christmas together was back in 1997—which also saw a winter strongly influenced by El Niño in the eastern Pacific.
This year’s El Niño is a bit different. While December 1997 saw most of Canada’s warmth confined to the west, this year’s warmth spans the whole country. But even with slightly different patterns and trends, we could see bare ground on Christmas morning in all three cities for the first time in 26 years.
There’s one more chance of snow between now and Christmas that’ll arrive with a trough scooting over the mountains overnight Friday into Saturday morning. We could see light accumulations in the foothills, including around Calgary. But that snow would have to stick around until Monday morning—a tall order.
Between the three communities, Red Deer has at least a fighting chance to keep some of its snowpack around long enough to qualify for an 'official' white Christmas.
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Header image courtesy of Unsplash.
