'Green-and-brown' Christmas expected for southern Alberta, climatologist says

Even the leftover crusty snow won't help southern Alberta have a white Christmas this year.

Any lingering snow is expected to melt, and no new flakes are in the forecast before Dec. 25, meaning the region will likely miss the much-coveted holiday hallmark.

"Next Monday, there might be a system coming in that maybe [the] central province might get some snow," said David Phillips, senior climatologist with Environment and Climate Change Canada. "But I think it's looking a lot like a green-and-brown Christmas this year."

It's still early to tell for sure Environment Canada's officialpredictionisdueWednesday but it's not looking good.

Cool weekend, no snow expected

Temperatures are predicted to remain above freezing with sunny skies for the next six days and there's no new snow in the forecast, Phillips told theCalgary Eyeopener.

Temperatures maydrop to 2 to 4 C on the weekend in Calgary but that won't do much good if the snow is already gone. No precipitationis predicted so there's not much hope for fresh flakes, either.

The new weather system due Christmas Eve will bring slightly cooler than normal temperatures but, sofar, no precipitation.But if there is any, the predicted cooler temperatures would turn it to snow.

To technically qualify for a white Christmas, you need ameasurable two centimetres of snow, Phillips said.

Currently at the Calgary International Airport, there's a measurable seven centimetres if you smash through the snow's hard top but even that's expected to be gone by Christmas.

"So if Christmas Day was today, hey, you'd legally have one," Phillips said. "But the problem is, lots of sunshine, around-the-clock melting and temperatures that rocket up to eight or seven degrees above freezing. It's just not going to be possible to hold it."

For the past three years, Calgary has had snow on Christmas. Between 1994 and 2015, it's been blanketed with snow 55 per cent of the time.

In places such as Medicine Hat and Lethbridge, chances areeven slimmer this year, Phillips said, as both cities have had less snow and more sun than Calgary.

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With files from the Calgary Eyeopener.