Saskatoon set to see 2nd brown Christmas in 3 years

Saskatoon set to see 2nd brown Christmas in 3 year A white Christmas is unlikely for much of Saskatchewan, Environment Canada says.

A white Christmas is unlikely for much of Saskatchewan, Environment Canada says.

Parts of the province won’t see any snow on the ground Dec. 25 – and other places will only have a trace.

Before 1984, Saskatoon was statistically 100 per cent likely to have snow on Christmas Day, according to Environment Canada.

The latest numbers give the city an 85 per cent chance. However, Saskatoon is expected to now see its second brown Christmas in three years.

Wednesday reached a daytime high of -1 C, above the average of -8 C for this time of year.

"It has to do with where the jet stream is and we have a jet stream that's sort of going over North of us and it's bringing milder temperatures,” Environment Canada meteorologist Terri Lang said.

Other factors include chinooks coming in from Calgary and El Nina bringing warmth to the West Coast.

The Clarence Downey Oval was closed Wednesday due to the temperatures and the Saskatoon Nordic Ski Club was keeping an eye on its trails – which aren’t in the best shape.

"The warm weather has damaged our snow and the lack of new snow has caused what we did have to compress and pack itself down - a pretty hard packed snow with lots of grass showing through," said Jan Sedgewick with the club.

Environment Canada says temperatures should cool off this weekend and into Christmas, but no snow is expected.