THUNDER BAY – WEATHER Desk – Kenora is waking up to a chilly, mostly cloudy Christmas Eve, and the atmosphere is quietly hinting that the holiday weekend won’t stay quiet for long. At 4:00 AM CST, the Kenora Airport reported -13.4°C with a wind chill of -19, a light southerly wind at 9 km/h, and excellent visibility at 32 km.
Barometric pressure is 102.3 kPa and falling, a classic signal that a weather change is lining up in the background.
Today: Grey Skies, Manageable Cold
Expect a cloudy day across Kenora and the Lake of the Woods region. Temperatures will creep upward compared to the morning start, topping out near -9°C. Wind will stay fairly light, but it will still feel brisk early on, with a wind chill near -20 this morning, improving to around -14 this afternoon. It’s not a “hang around outside for fun” kind of day—unless your fun is “seeing how fast your eyelashes can freeze.”
Tonight: Holding Cloud, Dropping Temperatures
Tonight remains mainly cloudy, with temperatures sliding to -15°C. Wind chills will hover around -16 this evening and dip closer to -21 overnight.
Christmas Day: Flurries Possible, Wind Picks Up
Christmas Day brings a mix of sun and cloud, plus a 30% chance of flurries late morning into early afternoon. Winds become more noticeable, turning southeast at 20 km/h with gusts to 40, helping move slightly milder air in. The high should reach -6°C, but the day begins sharply colder, with a morning wind chill near -22, easing to around -14 in the afternoon.
Christmas Night Into Friday: Snow Moves In
The bigger headline for holiday plans arrives after the stockings are emptied: snow is expected Thursday night, with a low near -8°C, continuing into Friday with snow and a high near -1°C. That combination—fresh snow and temperatures hovering near “sloppy-to-slippery”—can make roads tricky, especially on untreated surfaces.
Wardrobe Forecast
Today calls for full winter gear: a warm coat, insulated boots, gloves, and a toque that means business. If you’re heading out Christmas Day, plan for windy cold, and if you’re travelling Thursday night or Friday, pack extra layers in the vehicle—just in case conditions slow things down.
Weather Trivia: Lake of the Woods Edition
Lake of the Woods has so much shoreline it’s famously hard to measure precisely—because it’s packed with bays, islands, and inlets. That same maze of water and land can also help create local weather differences, meaning Kenora can be dealing with one set of conditions while nearby areas feel slightly different—winter’s way of keeping meteorologists humble.
The Last Word: Kenora & Lake of the Woods stays cloudy Christmas Eve near -9°C, flurries possible Christmas Day, then steadier snow arrives Thursday night into Friday.
