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L' lack of snow complicates things for small ski centers trying to ensure their profitability.
The Canadian Press
Most parts of Canada likely won't have a white Christmas this year, according to the senior climatologist at Environment and Climate Change Canada.
If you don't have snow now, you won't have any, David Phillips said. He said that in many areas that traditionally celebrate a white Christmas, there will be no snow.
The technical definition of a white Christmas is two centimeters of snow remaining on the ground, Phillips said. This is the Canadian standard. Millions of Canadians won't have one.
In Montreal, the slopes for sliding at the foot of Mount Royal are closed, and the skating rinks too, due to heavy rains and mild temperatures.
Calgary's few patches of snow await their fate, as forecasts call for temperatures well above freezing and warm Chinook-like winds.
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In Ottawa, where heavy snowfalls are common, lawns are covered with an icy powder which does not allow sledding or snowballs, but which, at least, shines nicely in the sun.
After two consecutive white Christmases, Vancouver is almost certain to end its streak this year.
Cypress Mountain ski resort, north of Vancouver, told Platform X that it had to close Tuesday due to bad weather, with high temperatures expected to reach 9 degrees Celsius on Friday and sunny weather expected throughout the weekend, before the expected rain returns on Christmas Day.
De Prince Rupert, British Columbia, Corner Brook, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Inuvik, Northwest Territories, Iqaluit, Nunavut, snow accumulations in late November were 10 to 15 centimeters lower than average. Some places, like southeastern British Columbia, have 50 centimeters less snow than average.
This means that southern Canada is almost devoid of any appreciable snow cover.
Environment Canada's snow map uses brown dots to indicate snow-free resorts, and it is brown from coast to coast. Edmonton, Saskatoon, Winnipeg, Toronto, Montreal, Halifax… all brown dots.
Online ski information indicates that 41 resorts across the country have only opened an average of a third from their slopes.
If you want snow, you have three choices: the coast of Newfoundland, along Saint-Jean, Quebec's Saguenay region and a small pocket of the Rockies in southwestern Alberta. All are 15 to 20 centimeters taller than average. It's not huge, but enough to make a snowman or roll down a hill.
The snow did not have a chance to accumulate, Phillips said. It's just too hot and too dry. We've been setting all kinds of records for hot temperatures and that's been the case all summer and certainly into October and November.
M. Phillips is already worried about the effects of dry weather on next year's crops and forests.
Humidity is of great concern in the Prairies, he said.
Last year's wildfires started because of winter conditions. This doesn't look good at a time when we should be recharging soil moisture.
A quote from David Phillips, Senior Climatologist at Environment and Climate Change Canada
Almost the entire country is classified as abnormally dry, says 27's Drought Monitoring Tool ;Environment Canada. Some locations in southern Alberta are already at the exceptional level, that is, at the top of the classification system.
Parts of British Columbia continue to experience extreme drought conditions, with the Peace River and Fort Nelson areas classified as Level 5, the highest level of drought& #x27;drought activity with almost certain negative impacts, depending on the province.
El Niño – a weather system periodic weather that brings warm weather to much of North America – is part of the cause of this abnormal weather. This year, the system started early and strong, Phillips said. Additionally, the Arctic air descending toward southern latitudes has not been as cold as usual.
All this is happening in a changing climate that has made the summer of 2023 the hottest in the history of the planet.
El Niño is different now, Phillips said. This is happening in the context of a warming world.
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