HALIFAX -- Maritimers dreaming of a white Christmas in 2020 had better odds of finding someone wearing shorts or at the beach on Friday and Saturday. With temperatures and conditions feeling more like a mild fall, many Atlantic Canadians spent Boxing Day engaging in unseasonable activities instead of making snowmen – enjoying the unusual weather before temperatures dropped later in the afternoon.
On Saturday, some Nova Scotians enjoyed a blast of sunshine at Lawrencetown Beach.
“It’s a gorgeous boxing day,” said one beachgoer.
The warm weather isn’t a common Maritime Boxing Day tradition, but many were celebrating.
“It’s beautiful! I love the wind,” said another beach visitor. “It’s probably about 12 degrees, and hurricane-like feeling winds out here.”
In Halifax, temperatures hit 13 degrees – warmer than Orlando, Florida, at times – before rain and cooler air arrived later in the day, followed by snow in the evening.
One Nova Scotia couple taking advantage of the warmer weather earlier in the day said there was no question they’d be hitting the beach.
“It’s gonna be 12 degrees, so we gotta get out here and see these waves,” said one half of the couple.
By the afternoon, sunshine turned into rain; still, runners sporting shorts could be seen at Halifax’s Emera Oval, usually meant for ice skating during the winter months.
“You get a couple of days like this throughout the winter, but I think it’s just about done,” said one runner.
In other Nova Scotian areas, like Musquodoboit Valley and Stewiacke Valley, residents saw power outages amid high winds – leaving many people in the dark.
Meanwhile, despite a period of snowfall later in the day, many of Lawrencetown Beach’s visitors left the location with fond, but fleeting, memories of a Boxing Day unlike any other.
