What Are The Chances St. Cloud Will Have A White Christmas?

Last year at this time we had already had a huge snowstorm. It didn't last long, but the snow definitely came early. It feels a little odd that we haven't had our first snowfall yet. And, it's making me a little nervous that we might not have snow on the ground for Christmas.

I don't know about you but snow is my driving force for setting up the Christmas tree. If there's no snow on the ground, I'm not really in a hot cocoa and Hallmark movie-watching mood.

So, what are the chances we'll have snow on the ground for Christmas this year? I did some online searching and found some interesting stats on the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources website.

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According to the MN DNR, "Having a white Christmas is loosely defined as having 1 inch of snow on the ground on Christmas Day."

The best chances for this are the Boundary Waters Canoe Area and Arrowhead. That's great...but, what about here in St. Cloud?

Historically, the DNR says that a white Christmas happens about 71% of the time. That's not bad...that's almost 3 out of every 4 years. They have data spanning from 1899 to 2019 that show there were 35 years with no snow.

In fact, their article mentions a crazy weather event that happened on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day in 1982 where there was heavy rain with thunder and lighting.

At the St. Cloud Airport, according to data from the MN DNR, there's a 54 percent probability of having at least 1 inch of snow by Christmas. There's a 74% probability that there will be 5 inches or more.

So if you're hoping for some snow, historically, odds are in your favor. However, we live in Minnesota...so, you really never know what you're going to get.