Photo: High wind watch this Christmas (Photo credit: DPA)

Santa Claus may show up later than usual Christmas Eve as ol’ St. Nick and his reindeer will be fighting against a nasty Nor’easter about to slam into Belmont and southern New England on Dec. 24 and into Christmas.

The National Weather Service issued a High Wind Watch starting Thursday after dark and lasting through Friday afternoon as a storm heads up the Atlantic coast bringing mild temperatures – highs in the mid-50s Christmas – along with winds between 20 to 30 mph with gusts reaching 60 mph.

“Damaging winds could blow down trees and power lines,” said the NWS in its press release of Dec. 23.

“Widespread power outages are possible” and “[t]ravel could be difficult, especially for high profile vehicles,” the statement read.

If the Christmas lights should go dark, call Belmont Light at 617-993-2800 to report the outage. Do not call 911 if losing power is not an emergency.