It's a winter wonderland, but will it be a white Christmas?

Snow is glistening in the lanes of Charlottetown, and one business is promising sleigh bells will ring next week, but whether there will be snow on the ground come Christmas day remains a question.

Environment Canada recorded 14 centimetres of snow on the ground Thursday morning, with a further 10 centimetres falling that day. There was more Friday, and Islanders have been happily sharing the beautiful sight of snow on the Island landscape for weeks, but predicting a white Christmas in Charlottetown has grown increasingly difficult.

Rain and unseasonably mild temperatures forecast for Sunday could dash Islanders' hopes of walking in a winter wonderland Christmas day.

Snow in mid-December is no guarantee of a white Christmas. Last Dec. 16 there was 10 centimetres of snow on the ground, but none on Christmas day. In three other years in the last 20, there was a green Christmas following 10 centimetres of snow on the ground in mid-December.

Over the last 20 years, most Charlottetown Christmases have been green.

Most experts say white

If, unafraid, you've made plans for building a snowman in the meadow Christmas day, four out of five experts polled believe you won't be disappointed.

CBC meteorologists Brennan Allen, Jim Abraham and Kalin Mitchell, along with weather specialist Kevin "Boomer" Gallant, believe the Christmas will be white. Only UPEI climatologist Adam Fenech is conspiring for a green Christmas.

CBC News was unable to contact Parson Brown for his opinion.

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