Dreams of a white Christmas in Massachusetts this winter may well be just that, dreams, as forecasters say the chances of at least an inch of snow on the ground by the time the holiday rolls around are low.
Earlier this month, forecasters at AccuWeather gave Boston a roughly 25% chance of a white Christmas, citing the influence of the warmer Atlantic Ocean as a key limiting factor. The Bay State’s largest city last recorded a white Christmas in 2009, when snow from a storm days prior stuck around.
In 2017, nearly three inches of snow fell on Christmas Day.
And it’s not just Boston, forecasters say, “none of the 25 most-populated U.S. cities have much more than a one-in-three chance of seeing snow on Christmas morning.”
AccuWeather’s white Christmas forecast sings a similar tune, noting that most of the country will see more green than white on the holiday due to a lack of snowfall.
Some areas that have already been buried in lake-effect snow, including cities and towns around the Great Lakes, are likely to still have snow on the ground come the morning of Dec. 25. But in other areas where snowfall has been sparse, it’s not clear if temperatures will remain cold enough for any snow to stay on the ground.
“The cold sticks with us at the start of Christmas week, but then it warms up as we head towards the middle of the week on Christmas,” AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Paul Pastelok said.
On Dec. 25, AccuWeather predicts above-freezing temperatures throughout Massachusetts, with highs of 42, 39 and 41 forecasted in Boston, Worcester and Springfield, respectively.
