A short time ago, I had a very strange experience. I was outside setting up some Christmas lights in front of our house, making sure all the extension cords and decorations were properly positioned in the yard. A very typical thing to do around this time of year, as December rapidly approaches. When we were finished, I stood on the sidewalk to admire our work. I thought we had done a pretty good job, all things considered.

Then it hit me: it was the very end of November, and there wasn’t a single speck of snow to be seen everywhere I looked. Heck, I didn’t even need to wear a jacket outside, yet I did out of instinct. Believe me, if I went back in time a couple months and told myself that there still wouldn’t be any snow on the ground by the time we got the Christmas lights up, I probably would have admitted myself. I mean come on, it’s Canada! We can get a foot of snow as early as September where I live.

Not this year, however. Not yet, at least. That could change, but according to various meteorologists, this warm spell may be the norm this time around. This El Niño we’re experiencing is expected to be quite intense, meaning not only are we going to have a much warmer Christmas, extreme weather events like heat waves and floods could be worse across the globe.

That’s not something we in Canada have to worry about, however. Sure, there is always the chance we get a bad heat wave that comes through, but flooding and severe storms at this time of the year? I sincerely doubt that happens. While it would be interesting, it will still likely be too cold for any of that to happen at the rate at which it typically does during the spring and summer.

In the meantime, I’ve always wondered what a hot Christmas would be like. For most, it would be when they leave Canada and go to somewhere tropical like Hawaii or Fiji, or even Cabo in Mexico. When I was younger, my family had talked about doing that once or twice, but nothing ever came of it because we always decided to spend that time with family instead. I’m glad we did in the end, especially because of the bonds I’ve created with my cousins.

This year, while it won’t necessarily be a hot Christmas, it’ll definitely be a lukewarm one at times. That’s probably more than enough.