Dreaming of a white Christmas? You might be out of luck.
Although HRM residents awoke yesterday to find a blanket of between 10 and 15 centimetres of snow on the ground, it doesn’t look like much of the white stuff will stick around for when Jolly Ol’ St. Nicholas arrives on Friday.
That’s because showers are forecasted today and tomorrow, and Christmas Eve Thursday is calling for sun and clouds with seasonable temperatures.
“It’s possible some of it might still be around,” Cindy Vallis, an Environment Canada meteorologist based in Dartmouth, said yesterday. “Accumulations don’t look too high as far as rainfall amounts go, but there are going to be a few showers around and temperatures are going to be a bit milder than what we’ve been seeing.”
Vallis said Sunday’s storm resulted in 10.4 centimetres of snow for Halifax International Airport and 14 cm at Shearwater. That’s below the between 15 and 25 cm predicted before the storm’s arrival.
“We may have gotten off a little easy, but there was a fair bit of blowing snow around at times,” Vallis explained.
Right now, travel for Christmas Day and Boxing Day looks good. Christmas Day is calling for sunny skies and temperatures around 3C.
Boxing Day Saturday has showers in the forecast and a high of 5 C.
“Rain is expected right now on Sunday, but I would take that rain with a grain of salt,” Vallis added with a laugh.
Safe winter driving
HRM Partners in Policing are reminding drivers to prepare their vehicle for winter conditions. Tips include having your tires and wiper blades in good condition and windshield washer fluid full. Also recommended is an emergency kit consisting of a blanket, matches, candle, plastic garbage bag, flashlight, batteries, extra clothing and a flash flag.
