Warmer weather and light rain on agenda for the weekend

This weekend brings warmer temperatures to the region – with a daytime high of 7 or 8 degrees on Saturday.

Temperatures normally at this time of year sit around 1 or 2 degrees Celsius.

According to Environment Canada meteorologist, Steven Flisfeder, Friday and Saturday will be well above seasonal temperatures.  

“Once we get past Saturday we’ll have a flip back towards normal for this time of year so closer to 1 or 2 degrees Celsius… as well as some small but not impossible chances of wet snow.”

Flisfeder added there is a chance it could reach double digits tomorrow.

“We are looking at a drier than normal December for the area.”

December is going to be warmer then normal due to an El Niño winter.

El Niño brings warmer ocean water temperatures from the tropical region of the Pacific Ocean up north towards the region.

“We tend to see warmer above seasonal temperatures for the winter period when we have an El Nino winter. So that’s what’s occurring and its what we’ve been seeing for the past few weeks and its what we expect to see in the coming weeks as well,” said Flisfeder.

He added they currently aren’t seeing any significant weather events within the next 5 days.

“We’ll have a system coming through starting tomorrow, you can see a few sprinkles of rain overnight into Saturday morning and then more rain showers through Saturday as well but nothing too significant in terms of amount,”said Flisfeder.

Anything beyond a 5 day forecast can and will change over the coming days, added Flisfeder.

“This time last year was pretty similar we had several days that were well above seasonal especially through early December. Once we got into mid-December it really locked into a normal December.”

Flisfeder mentioned as winter becomes more serious, it’s important for people to be aware of storms and monitor for changes that can happen quickly.

“Pay attention to any alerts if they happen to be issued. As we make our way into winter its going to be more likely.”

Flisfeder said it’s still too early to tell if we will have any snow for Christmas.