Welcome to the end of December! The atmosphere is gurgling with excitement as the seasons shift and we settle into the long, dark nights of winter.
The weather is known for its drastic fluctuations as the heart of winter arrives—and those turbulent times often coincide with the Christmas season, for better or worse.
Plenty of extreme weather has rocked Canada on Christmases past. Which of these extremes would you rather endure during your holiday season?
PODCAST: 12 weather stories of Christmas past
Temperature extremes are commonplace
There’s no shortage of impressive temperature swings this time of year.
Folks in Fort McMurray, Alberta, win the prize for the greatest temperature swing between their record low and record high for Christmas Day.
Christmas Temperature Range Across Canada
The town saw a brutally cold low of -50.7°C on Dec. 25, 1917, which contrasts with their record high of 10°C on their warmest Christmas Day back in 1956. This makes for a whopping 60.6°C swing between extremes.
Many communities across the country have seen 40-50+ degree swings between their record highs and record lows for the date, including everyone from Toronto to Whitehorse.
The coasts are prone to dynamic storms
While folks on the western and eastern coasts are protected from the greatest temperature swings, they are prone to powerful storms that can bring immense snows and wicked winds.
Christmas extremes across Canada
Campbell River, B.C., saw 53 cm of snow from a storm on Christmas 1965, making for the community’s fourth-largest one-day snowfall on record.
Nain, Labrador, once saw a Christmas snow depth of 267 cm. An adult male reindeer is about 135 cm tall from hoof to shoulder, so Santa had to be extra careful not to lose track of his gang that Christmas Eve.
The day is known to have had some fierce winds at times. The greatest Christmas wind gust in St. John’s clocked in at 115 km/h. A storm back in 1999 sent a 115 km/h wind gust whipping through The Pas, Manitoba, which was accompanied by a 30-degree temperature drop by Boxing Day.
WATCH: Did you know there’s an actual definition of a ‘white Christmas’?
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