Unseasonably Warm Weather In South, East Coast

Another mild day in store tomorrow for Christmas Eve.

The last storm in a long train of systems from the Pacific Ocean will drop southward along the Pacific coast, while spreading precipitation inland to end this week.

Happy holidays from the Ontario Storm Prediction Centre!

“North America tends to get really cold winters when high pressure builds up but in El Niño that doesn’t happen so much”, said Blair Trewin, a climatologist at the Australian Bureau of Meteorology “Typically, the El Niño influence brings stronger winds across the American continent and that brings milder air and moisture”.

“If you want a white Christmas, you’re having a blue Christmas”, said Ray Martin, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s Baltimore-Washington forecast office.

“I’m praying it’s also going to be sunny”, said Kelly Germany, 46, of the Bronx, who said the warm spell had made her alter her Christmas shopping and doesn’t plan on buying snowboots or other frozen tundra gear for her 14-year-old son. Snow is expected on Thursday from the Cascades of Washington State and OR to the Sierra Nevada mountain range of California, as well as areas of the Intermountain West, Weather.com reported. Motorists should be prepared for snow-covered roads along Interstate 5 from Grant’s Pass to Siskiyou Summit, Oregon, and Shasta Summit, California. The warm, and very humid, pattern will still lead to lots of clouds and only peeks of sunshine at best today; however, most of the day will stay dry.

Similarly, snow levels will dip to 1,500 feet or so in the northern Sierra Nevada. Travel will be hard over I-80 through Donner Pass, California.

There also are services on Christmas Day. The Christmas Day prediction calls for a high of 63, with a 60 percent chance of rain Christmas night. Four to 8 inches of snow could fall there Thursday. Salt Lake City may receive a fresh covering of snow Thursday night into Christmas Day.

Temperatures already rose well into the mid-teens in much of southwestern Ontario on Christmas Eve morning and more temperature records are expected to be broken.

Do you have a church family to be with on Christmas Eve?