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Will Christmas 2017 in Delaware be white?

Delaware Public Media

All eyes are on the sky and everyone wants to know if we’re going to have a white Christmas.

 

The National Weather Service says there’s a chance of some form of precipitation on Christmas Eve into Christmas Day, with maybe a little of the white stuff mixed in.

National Weather Service meteorologist Ray Kruzdlo notes it’s been quite some time since the Mid-Atlantic region saw snow on Christmas.  

“Typically, February actually is the snowiest month in this area, followed by January and then December and March. So December could yield almost spring-like temperatures, or it could be very cold,” Kruzdlo said.

Going back 10 years in the Philadelphia/Wilmington area, Kruzdlo says warm weather has been more common than a White Christmas, with temperatures hitting 60 degrees or higher on Christmas Day three times. And Kruzdlo adds it’s not unusual to see even warmer temperatures across Delmarva on Christmas Day.

 

Kruzdlo says based on a 30-year history for probability of snowfall in our area the absence of man snowy Christmases is not surprising.

 

“First on the Delaware beaches, your chances of seeing a white Christmas are only around 5%. When you move up to the New Jersey Shore, you’re looking at somewhere between 5- and 10%. From Wilmington through Philadelphia, up through Trenton, the I-95 corridor, you’re looking at about a 10- to 15% chance of seeing a white Christmas. As you move further north into the New York City area where it’s a little bit colder typically this time of year, there’s about a 20% chance of seeing snow,” said Kruzdlo.

Kruzdlo says if you travel further west of the I-95 corridor, like to Allentown, PA, there’s a 25-to-30% chance you’ll see snow in any given year. And you really have to go up into the southern Poconos to have a 50-50 chance of a white Christmas each year.

 
 

Kelli Steele has over 30 years of experience covering news in Delaware, Baltimore, Winchester, Virginia, Phoenix, Arizona and San Diego, California.