A snowy Christmas for the Hamilton area? Maybe

This Christmas might be white. But barely so.

As the first day of winter starts Wednesday, a significant winter weather wallop is expected going into the holiday weekend.

Dave Phillips, a senior climatologist for Environment Canada, said, it may feel like a fleeting moment where it looks like a white Christmas" - before the rain washes away the snow by Thursday night.

What the Thursday storm might bring in the form of snow will quickly clear up on Friday with temperatures reaching a high of 2 C in Hamilton.

But temperatures Friday night well into the weekend are expected to drop and will likely be the coldest of the season to date," a weather alert from Environment Canada said.

Hamilton is expecting a multiday, lake effect snow during the Christmas weekend, making things a little interesting," Phillips noted.

He said the storm and cold weather are going to be impactful," coinciding with that time of the year" when people are travelling and finishing their last-minute shopping before Christmas.

The weekend flurries and cold depend on the cold temperatures on Friday, Phillips said.

The weather experts are calling for a cold Saturday with a chance of flurries and -8 C - feeling like -18 - followed by a cloudy period. Christmas Day could drop to a -7 C - feeling like -16 - but mostly sunny and calm," Phillips said, causing no problems visiting grandma or family."

Environment Canada warned travellers to alter plans as travel conditions may become dangerous. The cold temperatures will be accompanied by strong to potentially damaging winds" and snow.

It's still hard to say if Hamilton will have a green or white Christmas this year, said Phillips.

Out of the last eight Christmases in Hamilton, only three were white.

Phillips said the probability of having a snowy holiday has reduced from about 68 per cent to now being 56 per cent in recent decades.

If Hamilton doesn't get a lot of snow this weekend, Phillips said, people will have a chance to see some snow between Christmas and New Year's Eve.

While it will be short-lived, Phillips said, the weeklong period will be favourable for making snow in the snow-belt area. Any precipitation that falls will be snow."

The trends in Hamilton and southern Ontario show warmer winters - one and a half degrees warmer than usual - which is enough to make it rain rather than snow, Phillips said.

This January is expected to be warmer than the last one, when Hamilton received an above-normal amount of snow. I don't see that happening but we still have a lot of winter weather to come," Phillips said.

Ritika Dubey is a reporter at The Spectator. rdubey@thespec.com