Chances of a white Christmas for Nanaimo ‘quite remote’

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The rare phenomenon happens about one in every nine or 10 years locally.

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Nanaimo last enjoyed a white-ish Christmas in 2022 when snow as on the ground just prior to Christmas but had somewhat melted come the day itself.

In 2021 however, considerable snowfall fell on Christmas Eve, blanketing the area and paralyzing several services for days.

Loney said a repeat this year just isn’t in the cards, thanks in large part to dominant weather patterns from the Pacific ocean.

“You need air masses that are able to come south [to have enough cool air for snowfall]. Right now the Pacific jetstream is quite active and it’s not really giving way to the Arctic air masses. It’s well established and going to get even more established as we get to Christmas.”

He said longer range forecasts predict a strong ridge of high pressure in the western United Stated to continue deflecting colder air to the north.

Temperature spreads will also stay relatively small, only fluctuating a few degrees on most days.

“That’s mainly due to the modulating effect of the Pacific Ocean where temperatures on the Pacific itself, they don’t change too much on a day to day basis. The air masses coming off the ocean like that, you don’t get a lot of variance day to day.”

A weekend storm system is forecast to bring rain and strong winds to the region, however Loney said at this stage they’re projected to be below wind warning criteria.

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