Dreaming of a White Christmass? Not likely for 2024
Crittenden County among least likely sites to see holiday snow
By Ralph Hardin
news@theeveningtimes.com
It’s not only the most popular Christmas song in the world, it’s also the biggest-selling record of any kind of all time. We’re talking, of course, about “White Christmas,” a song first made famous by crooner Bing Crosby, who originally recorded it in 1942 for the film “Holiday Inn,” and later re-recorded it for a movie named after the song.
And there is something about a White Christmas that just seems right, right? But how likely is it that we might actually get one? Well, it depends on where you live, of course. In the northern states or in mountainous regions of the U.S., it’s almost guaranteed. Places like New England, the Rock Mountains or the northern plains have snow on the ground already, and it’s not likely to melt until spring. But what about the rest of the United States?
Well, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA, the parent organization of the National Weather Service) set out to answer that question, and when it comes to the Mid-South and Crittenden County, the answer is: not likely at all. No, the historic probability of there being at least an inch of snow on the ground on Dec.
25 this year around these parts in less than one percent. In fact, only four times since NOAA and its predecessors started recording weather data for the region in 1807 is there a record of significant snowfall on or just before Christmas Day in Crittenden County.
Winter officially begins on Dec. 21, but winter doesn’t usually “kick in” around this part of the country until after the first of the year. As a result, it’s actually far more common for the region to see thunderstorms rather than snowstorms in December, as those who remember the 1987 tornado and flooding that took place — and the massive snowfall that the Mid-South subsequently received in January of 1988. So, while it won’t be a “bright Hawaiian Christmas Day” as described in another Crosby Christmas tune, 1949’s “Mele Kalikimaka,” you’re probably more likely to need an umbrella more than a toboggan.
