White Christmas

  People are already asking me whether we will have a White Christmas this year. With Christmas still 20 days away, the short answer has to be “no one knows”. In weather circles, a "White Christmas" is typically defined as one inch or more of snowcover on Christmas morning.
  The Minnesota State Climatology Office has compiled information on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day snowcover and snowfall.  Their records show that we have a White Christmas in the Twin Cities about 72% of the time.  The last time we did not have a White Christmas in the Twin Cities was last year. We had 4 inches of snow on the ground on December 4th of last year, but that snow melted well before Christmas. Two years ago, we had a whopping 19 inches of snow on the ground on Christmas morning in the Twin Cities.  The deepest snowcover on Christmas morning was 20 inches, back in 1983. You can see Christmas snowcover and snowfall info for the Twin Cities and many other spots in Minnesota at White Christmas.

I’m on Twitter: @RonTrenda and LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/rontrenda  

What a difference a year makes

   Last December was incredibly snowy and temperatures averaged a bit below normal.  In the Twin Cities, we set a new December snowfall record, with a total of 33.6 inches. This December is running about 10 degrees warmer (through Dec. 21) than last December.  Snowflakes have been a rare sight...we've  seen only 5.4 inches of snow so far at MSP airport.
   A careful look at the latest computer models shows little hope of significant flakes over the next few days.  Yes, that means a White Christmas is very unlikely this year.  The last time we didn't have a White Christmas in the Twin Cities was in 2006, so I guess we were kind of due for a brown/tan Christmas.  
   If you need snowcover to get you in the holiday spirit, head to the arrowhead region of northeastern Minnesota...most spots up there have several inches on the ground.  A Minnesota snow depth map is now posted at http://climate.umn.edu/doc/snowmap/snowmap_111222.htm
   Hope you have a great Christmas, and an awesome 2012!