Dreams of a White Christmas Now Threatened in Minnesota
If you've been looking forward to some snow for Christmas in Minnesota, you might not want to hold your breath this year.
Maybe we should change the name of that familiar Christmas song to Beige or Brown, instead of White Christmas this year in the Land of 10,000 Not-Yet-Frozen Lakes. Because we're close to just two weeks away from the big day, there's not much snow on the ground, and there's also not much in the way of a big snowstorm aiming at Minnesota any time soon.
We're used to getting snow in the Gopher State, of course. And usually here in December, as well. But how much snow do we need to have the traditional 'White Christmas?' The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) says having a white Christmas is loosely defined as having one inch of snow on the ground on Christmas Day.
And, much of the time, the DNR continues, a White Christmas does often occur here in the Bold North:
In 124 years of snow depth measurements in the Twin Cities, a white Christmas happens about 71% of the time. From 1899 to 2022 there have been 36 years with either a "zero" or a "trace" of snow on the ground.
The last time we didn't have a White Christmas, the DNR said, was just two years ago, in 2021, when warm conditions melted all remaining snow on December 24th and in the overnight hours on Christmas morning. The DNR also noted that 2018 and 2015 also saw a "brown Christmas" in the Twin Cities.
And that trend could continue THIS year as well. Twin Cities Meteorologist Paul Douglas posted that dreams of a Brown Christmas could come true again this year in Minnesota:
And, the National Weather Service office in the Twin Cities echoed those sentiments, as well, noting that the extended 8 to 14-day forecast shows above-average temperatures headed our way, as well-- which are not good for a White Christmas-inducing snowstorm:
Not the we can do anything about it, of course, but I would LIKE to see some snow here in December in Minnesota. It makes things just feel more like Christmas, doesn't it? And, I'd much rather have snow NOW instead of in late March or April, when we usually seem to get hit with a late-season storm, am I right?
Of course, the holiday season comes and goes regardless of what Mother Nature has in store for us in Minnesota. Keep scrolling to check out what Christmas looked like when back in the day, when we were growing up!
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