Balmy November breaks temperature records

At this rate, you'll have to dream pretty hard for a white Christmas.

Some spring-like days have pushed this month's average temperatures up about three degrees above the norm and December looks like it could be mild, too.

The city broke two heat records dating back to the 1970s at the start of this month.

It was 21.5 C on Nov. 4, breaking the record of 19.4 C set at the Hamilton airport back in 1978.

The Nov. 5 high was even warmer at 23.1 C, breaking the 19 C record from 1978, too.

"Those are some pretty amazing temperatures," said Environment Canada meteorologist Geoff Coulson.

The average temperature in November so far has been 7.1 C, which is well above the long term average of 3.4 C.

Cooler temperatures are expected to prevail through the weekend, Coulson cautioned, which will likely drop this month's average down to a 6.3 C average.

"But that would still be the warmest November since 2011," he said.

Environment Canada says December is looking mild, too. That doesn't mean a return to double digit temperatures, mind you, but we could still be seeing high single digit temperatures while you're stringing up Christmas lights.

January's forecast is looking a little more uncertain. Coulson says some weather models show Hamilton could be dealing with those "polar vortex" kinds of temperatures that have blanketed the region of the the last couple of years.