First an Arctic Christmas. Now prepare for ‘tropical’ conditions

From an Arctic Christmas to a mild, drenched New Years Eve.

That's what residents of Hamilton - and the rest of southern Ontario - can expect as an atmospheric gift" of southerly winds will bring balmy and wet conditions to the province to close out 2022, according to Dave Phillips, a senior climatologist with Environment Canada.

That system that brought that Arctic air in recent days is now moving to the Atlantic and will be replaced by high-pressure, tropical air, like a heat pump," Philips said in an interview Monday.

The favourable forecast - which Phillips said could see temperatures reach nine to 12 degrees above normal - will bring a much-awaited reprieve after a holiday period that saw Ontario blasted by a storm, strong winds and frigid temperatures.

Starting Wednesday when temperatures will hit a high of 2 degrees and a low of 0 in Hamilton, Phillips said locals will start to get a taste of wet, spring-like conditions" for an unusually long stretch.

Environment Canada is projecting a high of 8 on Thursday, 11 on Friday, 8 on Saturday and 5 on Sunday in the city, with all four of those days coming with a chance of showers.

Winter will lose its feel," Phillips said, noting the 11-degree forecast for Dec. 30 could shatter a previous daytime local record of 7.8 degrees set in 1965.

It's a drastic turnaround considering Hamilton was pummeled with wind chills of minus-25 this past weekend.

While mild stretches after a bitter cold front aren't historically rare in Hamilton, Phillips said what differentiates this coming week lies in its consistency. Not only will we receive daytime highs approaching the low teens between Thursday and Sunday, but more importantly nighttime lows will hover around 5 and 8 degrees, far above the average according to Phillips.

The thing you often see with these mild stretches in January is they're short-lived, but this one is fairly long with 24-hours plus of consistent warming," he said. The typical stretches will see night temperatures fall below zero and freeze everything back up before the morning, but this one will instead bring a prolonged period of messy and slushy streets."

Sebastian Bron is a reporter at The Spectator. sbron@thespec.com