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#SantaBomb Trends As Toronto Preps For Christmas Storm

Stop Calling It A #SantaBomb. It's Just A Winter Storm.

OK, Toronto, we understand: a storm is coming, and it's going to hit around Christmas.

But isn't calling it a #SantaBomb going a little far?

Environment Canada forecasts that a winter storm could hit the Toronto area just before Christmas, bringing rain, wind and maybe snow, according to The Globe and Mail.

Social media users have called it a "#SantaBomb."

Setting aside fears of another bitter winter like last year's in Ontario and Quebec, forecasters with the Ministry of Environment are at least certain there won't be another ice storm.

"The set up between this one and last are different in temperatures," meteorologist Geoff Coulson told the Globe.

But other than that, they don't seem completely sure of what will happen. Coulson and a number of other weather watchers expect to see rain on Christmas Eve, though snow may show up the following morning.

Desjanelle Matthews, another meteorologist with Environment Canada, told The Toronto Star that conditions will be too warm for freezing rain or snow to show up on Christmas Eve, though rain is 70 per cent likely.

Matthews added that conditions will be windy β€” gusts could reach up to 80 km/h, The National Post said β€” and temperatures are expected to drop on Christmas Day as the storm tracks northeast.

She said forecasts can't be conclusive "until maybe three or four days in advance ... and sometimes not even then."

#SantaBomb could be derived from the term "weather bomb," which describes a low pressure system that intensifies quickly, according to The Weather Network.

But as network meteorologist Dayna Vettese points out, actual weather bombs "rarely develop over land."

So chill, Toronto.

Be prepared for anything (including possible travel delays), but just remember that you've come through storms before that were probably worse than this one will be.

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