Canada’s New Year’s Eve forecast is (mostly) good news for parties
An eventful 2023 will end on a calm note for much of Canada this weekend, but forecasters are keeping an eye on the potential for snow at one of the country’s largest New Year’s Eve celebrations.
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Folks across Atlantic Canada will have a chance to clean up from the back-to-back winter storms that’ll sweep the area to begin the holiday weekend. Parts of the Maritimes and Newfoundland will deal with the aftermath of snow, ice pellets, and a glaze from freezing rain to wrap up the weekend.
It’ll remain seasonably chilly around the region for New Year’s Eve, with generally calm conditions for all as we count down to midnight.
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After weeks and weeks of above-seasonal temperatures across Ontario and Quebec, we’re finally going to feel seasonable conditions after a warm and foggy end to December. Toronto only saw three days this month where temperatures came in seasonal: Dec. 6th, 19th, and 22nd.
We’ll see temperatures on New Year’s Eve remain in the lower single digits for southwestern Ontario and the Golden Horseshoe, including for the big celebration in Niagara Falls. Readings will fall below freezing for eastern and northern Ontario, with Ottawa coming in around -3°C for the day.
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A weak disturbance set to move across the Great Lakes this weekend is a bit of a wild card in the New Year’s Eve forecast. This system might bring a bit of flurries or light snow to parts of southern Ontario on Sunday night, with flakes possibly filling the air at midnight. Keep this potential in mind if you’ll be out in Toronto or Niagara Falls to ring in 2024.
Aside from a bit of snow in far northern Alberta, relatively quiet conditions will dominate on the Prairies as we flip the calendar to the new year. Folks across Alberta will enjoy temperatures far above seasonal on Sunday, with Calgary’s predicted high of 6°C coming in well above their seasonal reading of -3°C for Dec. 31.
Temperatures will only crest around -8°C in Winnipeg, which is quite chilly but still above-seasonal for the end of the year.
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Rounding out the night will be a spell of gracefully pleasant conditions in British Columbia as the province follows the rest of the country into 2024. It’s been a pretty wet month along the West Coast, with Vancouver notching above-seasonal rainfall for only the second month this year.
We’ll see calm conditions for the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island through New Year’s Eve with temperatures running a few degrees above seasonal. Folks across the Interior will see temperatures hovering in the middle single digits with a chance for light showers in spots, especially out toward Revelstoke.
Stay with The Weather Network as forecasters monitor your conditions as the new year approaches.
