Weather forecasts for the United States expect that only a small part of the country will be waking up to a White Christmas filled with snow.
An analysis by Jason Samenow of The Washington Post reveals that White Christmas, which could be defined as having more than one inch of snow on the ground for the holiday, could only be experienced in a few large cities this year.
Minneapolis-St. Paul could be the only major metropolitan location that could have snow upon the entry of Christmas, but that is also not guaranteed, with the snow being slushy even if it falls for the holiday.
As of Dec. 22, only 26 percent of the United States has snow cover, which is much lower compared to the average percentage of about 38 percent. This percentage is also the smallest one for the given date within a decade. The lowest percentage, however, was back in 2004, when only 18.5 percent of the United States had snow cover.
The current snow issue is a sudden reversal, as back in Nov. 17, 50 percent of the lower 48 had snow cover, which is the highest percentage by far in the past 12 years.
A big storm is expected to travel from the South into the Great Lakes on the eve of Christmas, but because of the milder than usual temperatures, only a few locations will gain snow cover.
In addition, for some areas such as New England, the existing snow cover could be lost partly or even completely because of rain and temperatures that are above normal, with several areas in the East Coast featuring temperatures that are 10 degrees to 25 degrees hotter than average.
A map prepared by Samenow shows the blue areas, which are locations where a White Christmas is likely, and gray areas, where snow covers are expected but at levels of less than an inch, which could melt amid warmer temperatures in these locations.
Samenow compares the map of the upcoming Christmas to a map that reveals the historical chances of locations waking up to a White Christmas. This year, many locations, which usually have a 50-50 chance of having snow cover the ground on Christmas will not have snow, especially in cities in the Northeast, northern Ohio Valley and southern Great Lakes.
The cold air, which is required for snow to fall in greater quantities across the country, might not be around by Christmas, but it is expected to enter the U.S. before the New Year.
