Christmas weather planner: What's in store for Hamilton

Hamilton can expect a white Christmas this year, but it's going to be a warm one.

Temperatures are expected to rise over the few days, with Environment Canada predicting a high of 8 degrees on Boxing Day.

"It's going to feel more like winter than it did last year," said Meteorologist Geoff Coulson, despite warmer than average temperatures through the end of December.

Flurries will put a fresh layer of snow over the city overnight, with a few centimetres of snow expected before Friday, and a potential mix of showers and flurries Friday night through to Christmas Eve, said Coulson.

"We've got enough on the ground that we'll still have that White Christmas."

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A warm welcome to 2017

A normal high for this time of year is around 0 C, and starting this week we'll be back to "flirting with the freezing mark" he said.

It will be a welcome break after 6 days of cold alerts from the City of Hamilton since Dec. 14.

Into the holidays, Hamilton is expected to stay mild, with day time temperatures of or above 0 C, with nighttime lows around -10 C.

The biggest system on the radar to be mindful of is a storm coming through on Boxing Day.

"It looks like what we're going to get out of this system is rain," said Coulson, but travellers should still pay attention to the weather forecast.

"There may not be significant impacts in Southern Ontario, but people travelling, especially into Northern Ontario, should be aware that they will experience a significant winter storm," he said.

Holiday travellers should pay attention to airport updates and highway traffic before hitting the road, and ensure that they can handle all weather conditions; not just what they experienced at home.