Sunny days are on their way – next year!

Relief is on the way for those residents weary of the rain and fog of the past week.

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Sunny days are expected to arrive with the start of 2024.

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The Environment Canada forecast calls for a mix of sun and cloud with a day time temperature of 2 C on New Year’s Day dipping to -4 C overnight. The forecast calls for more of the same New Year’s Day with a mix of sun and cloud and a daytime temperature of 1 C.

The Weather Network on Thursday said December was the cloudiest month of 2023 since January. But added that there is sunlight at the end of the tunnel beginning New Year’s Day.

The network’s 14-day forecast also calls for more sunshine over the first two weeks of 2024.

Meanwhile, temperatures, which have been well above freezing over the past week reaching 10 C on Christmas Day, are expected to drop closer to seasonal norms by Friday and over the weekend.

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The winter, so far, has been dominated by rain not snow.

But that’s likely to change, Victoria Nurse, a meteorologist at Environment Canada, said.

“We are only in the first week of winter,” Nurse said. “It is highly likely that we will see some snow in the Brantford area through the winter.

“We potentially have an Alberta Clipper that could come into part of Northwestern Ontario either Sunday or Monday so we could see some snow then.”

While residents can expect to see at least some snow in the short term, predicting when more snow will arrive is a bit more difficult, Nurse said.

Meanwhile, the fog, which prompted an advisory over Christmas and has appeared intermittently throughout the week, is the result of warm air coming in from the United States.

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The warm rainy weather forced the closure of the Harmony Square rink over the past couple of days and it’s unclear when it will reopen. Those waiting to use the city’s sledding hill at Arrowdale Community Park will have to wait a bit longer.

Although The Weather Network’s 14-day forecast calls for colder temperatures, there is nothing to suggest that a lot of snow, enough for outdoor rinks and sledding on local hills, will arrive in the area anytime soon.

Temperatures for this time of year usually hover between -1 C and -5. Both the Environment Canada and The Weather Network forecasts are calling for temperatures to reach seasonal norms by the second week of January.

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