Residents of the NWT may find this Christmas colder than last year's, but it is still expected to be one of the milder ones in recent memory, based on historical data from Environment and Climate Change Canada.
Take Yellowknife, for example. As of Dec. 19, the forecast called for a high of -13 C on Christmas day. That's certainly brisker than the -8.3 C high Yellowknifers got on Dec. 25 last year, but if the forecast holds, this will be the second-warmest Christmas in the last five years. It will be particularly mild when weighed against Christmas of 2022, when the high was a chilly -26.4 C.
Hay River is also expected to have a relatively balmy Christmas. As of Dec. 19, the forecast called for a high of -7 C. That's cooler than the -1.3 C high residents experienced last Christmas, but far warmer than 2022 or 2021, when the mercury dipped to -23.8 C and -25.5 C, respectively.
The situation will be similar in Fort Smith, another South Slave community, which sits right on the NWT's southern border with Alberta. As of Dec. 19, the forecast called for a Christmas day high of -9 C in the community. That would be colder than the high for last year or 2020, when the peak temperature measured -6 C and -6.8 C, respectively, but still warmer than most recent years. Compared to 2022, when the Christmas day high was -25.1 C in Fort Smith, it's relatively toasty.
Earl Evans, a Metis Elder who has lived in Fort Smith his whole life, contends winters have been heating up since he was young.
"One hundred per cent, winters are getting warmer at Christmas," he said. "The last few years we have had very mild conditions. We even had several rain events [in recent winters] SA国际影视传媒� one for 10 hours. You could not stay on the streets, it was straight ice.
"When we were kids, you could hardly see cars in the parking lot from all the snow," he added. "Everything was just crackling. The snow sounded like Styrofoam when you walked on it."
In 1961, when he was 10 years old, the high on Christmas day in Fort Smith was -26.1 C. In 1963, when he was 12, the Christmas day high was a frigid -30.6 C.
Most of the NWT's other communities will experience relatively warm Christmases this year.
That includes Inuvik, where the high is expected to be -19 C on Christmas day. That's certainly chilly SA国际影视传媒� and much colder than the -4.4 C high residents basked in last year SA国际影视传媒� but substantially warmer than 2022, when the high was -35 C.
Inuvik Mayor Peter Clarkson, who has lived in the community for just shy of 38 years, is "not sure" if Christmases have gotten milder overall since he arrived.
"We have had some warm Christmases and some cold ones recently," he said. "If it is warmer, we go to our camp and if it is below -25 we donSA国际影视传媒檛."
