You could say it would take a Christmas miracle for snow to fall in the Okanagan and Shuswap on Dec. 25.
Environment Canada says there鈥檚 a 鈥渧ery small chance鈥� the region will experience a white Christmas in 2023.
鈥淲e may see something on Friday night leading up, but whether it would be wet snow or actual snow, there鈥檚 still a little chance of that,鈥� said Derek Lee, a meteorologist at Environment and Climate Change Canada. 鈥淚f anything does fall, it could linger until Christmas Day, but the chances of seeing major snowfall is unlikely.鈥�
Based on precipitation averages dating back to Christmas 1955, Penticton has just a 31 per cent chance of experiencing snowfall on Dec. 25. In 麻豆精选, those odds stand at 64 per cent.
Such data was not made available for Vernon or Salmon Arm.
For it to officially be called a white Christmas, meteorologists say at least 2 cm of snow has to be on the ground when measured at 4 a.m., Dec. 25.
Penticton, for instance, recorded 2.4 cm of snow on Christmas 2022.
But Lee says things are different region-wide in 2023, with both warmer and drier-than-normal conditions from September sticking around through the start of meteorological winter (Dec. 1.).
Cities across B.C. Interior have seen just a fraction of their normal precipitation marks in December and temperatures are expected to remain around 3 to 4 C above average to wrap up the month, Lee added.
鈥淲e do have a little bit of precipitation coming in for the end of that Christmas week, but your best bet that鈥檚 it鈥檚 still only a chance鈥othing major or significant,鈥� the meteorologist said.
El Ni帽o, a weather phenomenon that typically brings along a milder winter, officially began in June.
鈥淚 think I could correlate the temperatures to El Ni帽o,鈥� Lee explained. 鈥淭he precipitation I can鈥檛 correlate to anything but [El Ni帽o] does impact snowfall overall. We鈥檝e seen snow in the mountains but it鈥檚 not bringing cool enough temperatures for that snowpack to build up in the Interior.鈥�
Rain is in the forecast for 麻豆精选, Vernon, Penticton and Salmon Arm on Friday, Dec. 22, with temperatures expected to stay above zero until Christmas Eve.
Along with the minimal chance of snow on Dec. 24 and 25, people across the region can expect temperatures between -1 to -2 C.
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