Chance of White Christmas in the lowlands remains
Dec 24, 2015, 10:44 AM | Updated: 11:13 am
Forecasters say we likely won't see any snow accumulation on places like Seattle's Queen Anne, but possibly in higher elevations as you travel east. (AP file)
(AP file)
There remains a chance of a White Christmas in Western Washington.
The National Weather Service says the eastern part of the Puget Sound lowlands could see some snow as an “upper level trough” slowly makes its way east and is replaced by an “upper level ridge.” The best chance of snow will likely happen on Christmas morning.
Low temperatures are expected to drop on Saturday into the 20s across the region, with single digits in the mountains.
A White Christmas is defined as “at least one inch of snow being on the ground on Dec. 25th” by the National Center of Environmental Information. However, warning coordination meteorologist Ted Buehner points out our perception of that might be a little different.
Snow has fallen on Christmas Day only a limited number of times over the last 120 or so years, according to records from downtown Seattle and at Sea-Tac.
They include:
1) 1909 1.8 inches
2) 1915 0.4 inches
3) 1944 0.2 inches
4) 1965 1.0 inches
5) 1990 0.8 inches
6) 2007 0.9 inches
7) 2008 0.4 inches
There has been snowfall on only about 6 percent of Christmas Days over a 123 year record, according to the NWS.
The most recent snowfall on Christmas Day was in 2008 and the region was embedded in an extended cold and snowy weather period that started on Dec. 13 and ran through the end of the year. Some places in Western Washington had between one and two feet of snow on Christmas Day.
Ted Buehner with the National Weather Service contributed to this report.
