The true definition of a white Christmas is an inch or more of snow on the ground by Christmas morning.
You may think in the Miami Valley — which can feature cold and snowy winters — that a white Christmas would be common, but looking at the numbers, it isn’t.
The most recent white Christmas was last year when there was about 2 inches of snow on the ground Christmas morning.
Christmas morning in 2010 was another year we got 2 inches of snow.
Those were the only two white Christmas holidays between 2008 and 2018 in the Miami Valley.
In 2012, Dayton came close with a winter snowstorm that dropped 7 inches of snow the day after Christmas.
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Since 1943, when snow depth records began, a white Christmas has occurred 22 times. If you look at the last climatological period between 1981 and 2010, it has occurred nine times.
That means there is about a 30 percent chance the area could have a white Christmas. From 1893-2016, the most snow that has ever fallen on Christmas Day was 5.2 inches, which fell in 1909.
When it comes to a cold Christmas, from 1893-2016 the coldest Christmas day on record is minus 1 in 1983. The warmest was 54 degrees in 1895.
There are two systems coming through before Christmas.
Currently, it looks like a mainly rain event, but we will watch the temperatures at night to see if any mixing occurs. Your Storm Center 7 team will have updates.
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