Green Christmas? Ottawa breaks 130-year-old heat record
With the daytime temperature reaching 6 C in Ottawa on Monday, today is the warmest Dec. 18 in over 130 years.
The temperature reached a high of 5.9 C at 10 a.m. in Ottawa.
Environment Canada's historical averages show the city beat the previous record of 5.6 C recorded in 1895 and 1921.
- Sign up now for our nightly CTV News Ottawa newsletter
- The information you need to know, sent directly to you: Download the CTV News App
That makes it the highest temperature since record keeping began in 1938 at Ottawa's international airport and between 1889 and 1938 at the Central Experimental Farm.
The average temperature for Dec. 18 is a high of minus 3.6 C and a low of minus 11.8 C.
"It seems more tropical than polar, that's for sure," said Environment Canada senior climatologist David Phillips in an interview with CTV News Ottawa.
Environment Canada has predicted El Niño conditions will bring milder temperatures to the Capital leading up to the holiday season. El Niño is a climate pattern that describes a warming of the ocean surface, which can create higher than average temperatures.
The last El Niño year in Canada was in 2015-2016, which was a milder winter with slightly above normal precipitation.
Less snow is expected in southern Ontario and southern Quebec leading up to the holidays, but Environment Canada says a small deviation in the storm track could mean a more active weather pattern.
About ten to 20 mm of rain is expected to fall today with conditions improving going into Christmas weekend. Phillips suspects Ottawa could also see some snow, but not very much.
"Kind of teasing you, in a way. I mean, this is about what you need for a white Christmas and I think that's probably on peoples minds," he said.
Environment Canada has no prediction for Christmas Day yet, but Christmas Eve is showing a mix of sun and clouds with a high of minus 3 C.
"To make it a white Christmas, you need two centimetres of snow sitting on the ground in Ottawa or Kanata or wherever you are, and if you get that, hey, you have a white Christmas," said Phillips. "Last year, boy, you had one in abundance; 44 centimetres of snow sitting on the ground before Christmas. It was a done deal, clearly too much snow... so my sense is you gotta look at it a little bit differently. It would be nice to have that white cover, but then if it makes you stay in like it did last year, then it may not be a good thing."
--With files from CTV News Ottawa's Tyler Fleming.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Serial sexual offender linked to unsolved 1970s homicides of four Calgary girls, women
An investigation into unsolved historical homicides from the 1970s has linked the deaths of two girls and two young women in and around Calgary to a now-deceased serial offender.
Woman with liver failure rejected for a transplant after medical review highlights alcohol use
For nearly three months, Amanda Huska has been in an Ontario hospital, part of it on life support, because of severe liver failure. Her history of alcohol use is getting in the way of her only potential treatment: a liver transplant.
A look back on Alberta's record-breaking wildfire season: Preparing for potential challenges in 2024
By the end of the 2023 wildfire season in Alberta, 1,088 wildfires had burned more than 2.2 million hectares of land, and this year, the wildfire season is already in full swing.
Video appears to show Sean 'Diddy' Combs beating singer Cassie in hotel hallway in 2016
Security video aired by CNN appears to show Sean 'Diddy' Combs physically assaulting singer Cassie in a Los Angeles hotel hallway in 2016.
B.C. man 'attacked suddenly' by adult grizzly near Alberta border: RCMP
A B.C. man is recovering from multiple injuries after he was "attacked suddenly" by an adult grizzly bear near Elkford Thursday afternoon.
Anglers reel in 3.5-metre-long tiger shark off coast of Florida: 'She found my bait'
A group of fishers said it took roughly 20 minutes to reel in this 3.5-metre-long tiger shark off the coast of Florida.
Australia's richest woman seeks removal of her portrait from exhibition
Art is subjective. And while many artists long to share their work with the world, there's no guarantee that the audience will understand it, or even like it.
Scottie Scheffler isn't the first pro golfer to be arrested during a tournament
Scottie Scheffler's arrest hours before his second-round tee time at the PGA Championship in Louisville, Kentucky, will go down as one of the most shocking in professional golf history. It certainly wasn't the first, though.
Canadian convicted of attacking Nancy Pelosi's husband with a hammer sentenced to 30 years
The man convicted of attempting to kidnap then-U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and attacking her husband with a hammer was sentenced Friday to 30 years in prison.