Enjoy the warm weather while it lasts because starting next week temperatures will be on the cooler side.
Dan Kulak, meteorologist with Environment Canada in Edmonton, said Red Deer broke a 15-year seasonal-high record Tuesday at 10.7 C.
The previous record high was set in 2002 at 10.2 C based on information provided by Environment Canada for Red Deer, which dates back to 1907.
The ongoing warm spell will last until early next week.
Starting Tuesday, temperatures will hit the average December range of about -5 C to -10 C.
Red Deerians will experience a cooler Christmas with a “dusting of snow” said Kulak.
“I’m not going to guess whether it will be a ‘White Christmas’ — basically there’s not a lot of precipitation showing up in the forecast (for December), but it’s quite likely it will be cooler certainly,” he said.
With the cooler spell, Red Deerians may see a bit of snow.
“We don’t see a lot of snow between now and Christmas, and we can’t say anything beyond that,” said Kulak.
Red Deer resident Carol Buker said she would rather see snow than cold.
Buker hit the outdoor rink at Bower Ponds Wednesday afternoon. The 71-year-old said she skates about once a week no matter the weather.
She said she would like a White Christmas but not a lot of snow on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day when people are travelling.
Kulak blames the warm spell on the warm air coming into Red Deer from Pacific Ocean rather than the usual Arctic Ocean.
On Tuesday, other parts of Alberta also broke seasonal-high records like Lacombe where the temperature was 10.1 C.
The last time that happened was in 1944 where the temperature on the same December day was 8.3 C.
In Rocky Mountain House, the seasonal high record Tuesday was 12.3 C versus the previous seasonal-high in 2002 at 10.5 C as per data going back to 1917.
“There will be a little bit of snow activity with the cooler air moving in,” said Kulak.
So far this month, Kulak said, Red Deer has not seen any precipitation. The average precipitation for the month is about 12 mm.
For November, Red Deer was right on par with the average precipitation of 14 mm.
mamta.lulla@reddeeradvocate.com
Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter
