Dream on: No white Christmas for Washington

Meera Pal, wtop.com

WASHINGTON – Washington area residents will have to continue to dream of a white Christmas this year.

The chances of the cold white stuff falling on Dec. 25 are pretty much slim to none, according to an annual prediction by climate experts at Cornell University, and ABC7 Senior Meteorologist Bob Ryan.

“The patterns we have now, we will have to be dreaming of it,” Ryan says. “There’s not anything that right now we can get too excited about.”

December is shaping up to be the 12th month in a row of above-normal temperatures in the D.C. region, as well as the entire Northeast.

Of the cities measured by Cornell climatologists, Pinkham Notch, N.H. tops the list of cities that has the best chance of having snow on the ground on Dec. 25.

Philadelphia and Atlantic City are the only cities with even less of a chance of a white Christmas than D.C.

Ryan says snow predictions are typically based on a 100-year average of snow on Christmas.

In D.C., he says “it’s very rare to have it actually snow on Christmas. That has only happened a few times in the last 50 to 60 years.”

Ryan says there is no real sign of snow in the region before the end of the year.

“Like the old Brooklyn Dodgers fans used to say ‘There’s always next year,'” he says.

In the meantime, this video should help ease you through D.C.’s snow-less holidays.

Probability of 1″ of snow or more on the ground on Dec 25.

  • Pinkham Notch, N.H.95
  • Boonville, N.Y. 94
  • Caribou, Maine 90
  • St. Johnsbury, Vt. 89
  • Norfolk, Conn. 79
  • Ashburnham, Mass. 74
  • Concord, N.H. 73
  • Burlington, Vt. 70
  • Syracuse, N.Y. 68
  • Oswego, N.Y. 68
  • Portland, Maine 66
  • Binghamton, N.Y. 64
  • Buffalo, N.Y. 62
  • Ithaca, N.Y. 60
  • Rochester, N.Y. 58
  • Erie, Pa. 57
  • Albany, N.Y. 50
  • Cleveland, Ohio 48
  • Beckley, W.Va. 35
  • Pittsburg, Pa. 34
  • Providence, R.I. 30
  • Charleston, W.Va. 28
  • Bridgeport, Conn. 27
  • Newark, N.J. 20
  • Boston, Mass. 20
  • Wilmington, Del. 14
  • New York, N.Y. 12
  • Baltimore, Md. 12
  • Washington, D.C. 10
  • Philadelphia, Pa. 10
  • Atlantic City, N.J. 9

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