The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

3 | Friday, D ecem ber 2 3 , 2 0 1 6 | OAKVILLE BEAVER | www.insideHALTON.com Oakville w ill have a w hite Christm as but it w ill be balm y by Nathan Howes Oakville Beaver Staff It' s going to be a white, but mild, Christmas in Oakville this year -- the first time since 2008 that there has been a significant amount of snow on the ground on Dec. 25. This is according to meteorologist Dr. Doug Gillham, from the locally-based The Weather Network, a subsidiary of Pelmorex Media, who shared the forecast details with the Oakville Beaver Thursday, Dec. 22. While Christmas Day 2013 saw snow on the ground, or as Gillham called it, a "crusty Christmas" with ice on top, 2008 was the last time there was a sizable amount of the white stuff. Pearson International Airport had 31 centimetres of snow on the ground Dec. 25 that year. This year, Pearson currently has 18 cm. "It' s a good snow cover, but you have to go all the way back to 2008 to find the last time we had this much snow on the ground," said Gillham. "We'll lose quite a bit on Boxing Day, but most areas will keep some of their snow through then. Certainly ski country will be fine." While it won't be a "perfect" white Christmas Sunday, the ground will still be covered in white, Gillham said. "We'll get ideal weather in that we will have a white Christmas. While a perfect white Christmas is defined when you not only have snow on the ground, but also snow in the air, Oakville is forecast to have a white, but mild, Christmas Day. | Metroland Media photo we're not going to fulfill that requirement. It' s ideal for travel," said Gillham. "Weather will not be a factor in your ability to get around." Temperatures on Christmas are expected to be a few degrees above freezing, hitting 2C and 3C across the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), Gillham said, so it will be mild for this time of the year, despite the snow cover. "All of southern Ontario will have generally fair and mild weather on Christmas Day. Temperatures will be a couple of degrees above freezing and no precipitation," said Gillham. "Often, it can be nice here, but it might be bad in ski country or cottage country. That' s not the case. Christmas Day is quiet across southern Ontario." While Sunday will be good for travelling or to be outdoors, it' s Boxing Day (Monday, Dec. 26) that people should be concerned about. The meteorologist noted there is the possibility of a period of freezing rain in the morning, but primarily for areas farther away from Take Ontario, while temperatures will hit 10C or 11C by late afternoon or early evening. "Milder air will surge into the area later in the day We probably won't hit our high temperature until after dark. We have a pretty good chance to hit double digits around dinner time," said Gillham. The timing of the freezing rain is expected to coincide with the start of light rain in the pre dawn or early morning hours Monday when temperatures will hover around the freezing mark, he said. While there could be icing on roads and the ground, the accumulation of freezing rain forecasted won' t be significant enough to threaten trees and power lines. "We're not worried about any significant accumulations, but it doesn't take very much to make sidewalks and side streets slippery," said Gillham. He cautions, though, the pleasant temperatures will be short-lived and will drop down closer to seasonal numbers for Tuesday, Dec. 27 and Wednesday, Dec. 28. Interior D esign House Starts December 27th Nn OOT A He a l t h IN C A R E c l in ic 50% OFF XMAS S T E P B E Y O N D HUGE 25% ALL REGULAR P R IC E S & MORE OFF S A V IN G S ^ 40% OFF PILLOWS & THROWS DO YOU HAVE: R e gC hiropodist ' · Foot/Arch Pain? · Ingrown Toenails? · Diabetes? · Swollen Ankles? · Corns, Calluses? CALL FOR AN APPOINTMENT 905-632-1414 728 B u rlo ak Drive w w w .fo otandhealth clin ic.com 4047 Fairview Street (Walker's Line/Fairview St.) 905.634.3439 S tore Hours: M o n -W e d 1 0 :0 0 - 5 :3 0 , Thur-Fri 1 0 :0 0 - 8 :0 0 , S at 1 0 :0 0 - 5 :3 0 , Sun 1 2 :0 0 - 5 :0 0 g fe TORE IS CLOSED BOXING Dfly w w w . i n t e r i o r d e s i g n h o u s e .c o m D on DriVeKj ' r a in in : January 2, 3 ,4 , 5 4 Days 9:30 am - 3:30 pm D Good drivers a re n 't born, th e y 're built -- U PC O M IN G COURSES January 14,15, 21, 22 4 Days 9:30 am - 3:30 pm February 3,4,5, special semester Turnaround program (day 4 of this program is to be made upon a future course of your choice) 4 Days 9:30 am - 3:30 pm www.drivewiseoakville.com 9 0 5 - 8 4 5 - 7 2 0 0