What Are The Chances Of A “White X-Mas” In MA?

While many people across the country are likely dreaming of a white Christmas, many Massachusetts residents are pondering the same question as some cities offer a better probability than others for snow on the ground on December 25th.

The legendary crooner Bing Crosby brought us one of the top 5 sounds of the season as his thoughts are fixated toward this weather accomplishment, but as we all know Mother Nature holds the cards to this one. The true definition of a "White Christmas" states at least 1 inch of snow must be on the ground. Even if a light dusting is present on Christmas Day, that would NOT qualify.

AccuWeather Meteorologist Jim Andrews sums it up best:

“You need snow, on or near Christmas Day would be the ideal scenario. Of course, if it happens well before Christmas, it needs to stay cold (near to below freezing) through December 25th to keep snow on the ground.”

A cold snap before the snowfall will also prove helpful in chilling the ground adding that frozen ground holds snow much better than unfrozen ground. The best bet is areas of the interior Northeast (New York's Adirondack mountains) the upper Midwest, northern Plains, Rocky Mountains and Pacific Northwest offer the best opportunities of a white Christmas throughout the continental United States.

Buffalo, New York always has a good chance of receiving over an inch of the white stuff at Christmas time as they are a prime location to pick up lake effect snow which contributes to the city's near 50 percent probability of seeing a white Christmas, On average, they get over 27 inches of snow in December. The snowiest Christmas Day occurred back in 2002 with a snowfall total of 8.4 inches, which doesn't seem much for native Buffalonians as they usually measure snow in feet after a bout with lake effect from the shores of Lake Erie.

Due to their proximity near Great Lakes, Detroit, Michigan and Milwaukee, Wisconsin also have a 47 percent likelihood they will have a white Christmas each year.

Leading the way, Minneapolis, Minnesota and Denver, Colorado. By the time you get to that "most wonderful time of the year", the normal temperature in both locations is well below freezing as any precipitation will fall as snow.

Which leads us to the million dollar question: Will areas of The Bay State see over an inch of "mood snow"? The answer is: There will be a white Christmas in some of the  mountainous locations, but not in the foothills and along major highways like I-90, I-95 and I-495. You can blame El Nino for the lack of snow as much of the northern parts of the United States, which includes New England, could see warmer-than-average temperatures during the months of December and January. It is not until February when our vicinity anticipates much more of a near-average winter. Even parts of northern Maine could see warm-to-near-normal averages, while the rest of New England (including Massachusetts) can expect cooler but average conditions.

BOTTOM LINE: There you have it, a complete round-up of possible snowfall during the holiday season and it looks like Massachusetts could deprive St. Nick of the white stuff, while riding on his sleigh, but one never knows what Mother Nature is up to as she has her own agenda. A surprise end result could surface. We'll keep you posted.

(Some information obtained in this article courtesy of www.accuweather.com and www.masslive.com)