

Vidya Kauri, CP24.com





Winter officially began Sunday evening, but one wouldn’t know it from this week’s forecast.

Environment Canada has issued a special weather statement for Toronto and parts of the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area calling for unseasonable mild and rainy weather.

Monday will be dry with a high of 3 C and a low of 1 C. But a low pressure system developing over the American mid-west and moving toward the Great Lakes is expected to bring rain on Tuesday and on Christmas Eve. Eastern Ontario could see some freezing rain.

Temperatures could approach the low teens or high single digits in some areas. Environment Canada said that is some parts of Eastern Ontario, the mild weather could break temperature records on Christmas Eve.

Christmas Day could see a return to more regular winter weather with flurries, strong winds and cooler temperatures as the low-pressure system over the Great Lakes moves into northern Ontario. The flurries won’t be enough to make for a white Christmas, Environment Canada says.

The forecast is very different from last year's Christmas weather which brought a massive ice storm and power outages across the city.

The special weather statement has also been issued for Peterborough, York, Halton, Durham, Hamilton, Barrie Windsor, Chatham, Sarnia, London, Hamilton, Niagara, Waterloo.

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