Rainfall warning: Lots of rain coming and more balmy days ahead for Hamilton

December ended with a swing but January is starting with a splash.

A ranfall warning on Monday is calling for up to 45mm of rain, just days after a post-storm heatwave broke daily weather records.

Rain is expected to start late Monday and last into Tuesday morning, bringing totals of 20 to 45mm, according to an Environment Canada alert.

The rain will likely put a halt to any wintertime golf games.

Days after Christmas, a group of toque-clad golfers was spotted swinging clubs on a yellowing green, amid lingering patches of melting snow. This unseasonable game was made possible by spring-like conditions in the wake of a massive winter storm.

We've had about four or five days of above-freezing temperatures, which of course is above normal for this time of year," Environment Canada meteorologist Brian Owsiak said Sunday.

Dec. 30 highs of 12 C broke the previous record of nine degrees in 2019, Owsiak said.

This balmy trend is expected to continue through the first half of the month.

Owsiak said fluctuating weather like the recent flip-flopping between damp and cold snap is common, but the magnitude of the swing" in the last week is drawing attention.

In the days before Christmas, a storm system swept across southern Ontario, with strong gusts and a wind chill of -25. On nearby Lake Erie, metres-high waves pummelled the shore and homes were wrapped in windswept ice

We don't always get this drastic of a change," he said. It's a shock to the system."

Kate McCullough is an education reporter at The Spectator. kmccullough@thespec.com