It’s looking less and less like a White Christmas

Dec 17, 2018 | 4:11 AM

KAMLOOPS — Unseasonably warm temperatures and relatively minor precipitation has led to a unique winter experience for the Southern Interior.

Environment Canada meteorologist Matt MacDonald says the snowpack at the summit of the Coquihalla Highway is just 54 centimetres, compared to a normal snowpack for this time of year of 94 centimetres.

“It’s been a super mild start to the winter season here, with temperatures about three, three-and-a-half degrees warmer than normal,” MacDonald says. 

Things aren’t expected to get much colder or whiter heading into Christmas. MacDonald says temperatures are going to continue to be very mild across the southern half of the province, with valley bottom temperatures in Kamloops getting to 9 C over the next few days.

“That’s 10 C warmer than normal for this time of year,” he says. “As we get toward the end of the week, we’ll see a cooling trend, finally a return to near-seasonal temperatures, but it’s looking mainly dry. We may see a few snowflakes as we lead into Christmas there — Christmas Eve and perhaps Christmas Day, but no big snowmakers on the way.”

A storm will push through over the Coquihalla tonight, with 10 to 15 centimetres predicted, and another storm is expected on Thursday but that one will likely be mild, with snow turning into rain.