North Slave residents can be forgiven for wondering whether Santa Claus will be leaving the sled behind this Christmas and grabbing a surf board instead with temperatures reaching as high as 4 C Wednesday.
Whati is expected to be the NWT hotspot Wednesday at 4 C, while Yellowknife is forecast to reach 2 C and Fort Providence 3 C.
If it holds, the Whati forecast will shatter a previous high of -2.1 C set in 2011. Yellowknife’s high Wednesday is expected to miss the record high of 2.8 C set in 1944.
Usually around this time of the year, the average high sits at -19.3 C and average low at -27.3 C, according to Environment and Climate Change Canada website. The thermostat is expected to drop by at least 10 C the following day, although warmer than normal temperatures are expected to persist into next week.
The unusually warm weather follows some relatively cold conditions earlier this week with lows reaching past -25 C in the North Slave on Monday.