As long as Santa and his reindeer fly relatively low, he should have a clear path to Greater Trail chimneys on Sunday.
“The next storm, which is a couple of thousand kilometres away, might gather a little steam and come in for Christmas,” says local forecaster Jesse Ellis. “But I’ll bet it’s going to be clear on Christmas Eve and as long as he stays below 8,000 kilometres, he should be fine.”
Ellis says at this point, a tame Arctic outbreak will bring about a change of especially drier and icier conditions beginning today (Friday).
“We’ll probably see cold northerly winds developing Friday night with overnight lows below minus five,” he explained. “And it could be as cold as minus 10, which isn’t unusual for this time of year.”
A shift into a weak Pacific flow is expected late Sunday or Monday, but Ellis admits confidence on that timing is low.
“If I had to go with my gut,” he said. “I’d say that we are probably going to stay cold and dry through Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, but stay tuned on that one.”
Those eager for Santa’s arrival can track his progress around the world at www.noradsanta.org.
The website, which attracts over 20 million visitors on Christmas Eve, also features games, music, videos and plenty of activity at Santa’s North Pole Village.
The Santa tracking starts on Dec. 24 with video of all the preparations for Santa’s round-the-world journey.
This marks the 62st year NORAD (the North American Aerospace Defence command) has tracked Santa’s Christmas trek with over 1,000 volunteers ready to answer calls and emails on Christmas Eve.
In Rossland, the forecast is calling for clouds and light flurries on Dec. 24 and sun with a low of – 12 C on Christmas Day.
DriveBC reminds commuters to shift into winter, and cautioning drivers of compact snow and slippery sections on the Salmo-Creston Pass as well as on the Blueberry-Paulson Pass, the Nancy Greene Junction and from Rossland to the U.S. border crossing.
