Will there be a white Christmas? Where is it expected to snow before the holiday?

Christmas is less than a week away and already 30% of the country is blanketed in snow. However, predictions are that this number will not grow enough to ensure the majority of the US will experience a white Christmas in 2022.

Weather pattern analysts AccuWeather classify a white Chritmas as occuring when an inch of snow is on the ground.

However, a weather pattern called La Niña will force a storm across the north of the US while leaving the south drier than usual, hurting the conditions necessary for snow. If snow does fall, typically it will around the Rocky Moutnains, this storm could destroy the snow already fallen.

“This storm will likely become intense, feeding on the extremely sharp variation between the surging arctic air arriving from the Central states and relatively warm air across the Southeastern US,” AccuWeather Chief Meteorologist Jon Porter said.

The East Coast was already forecast to have lower-than-normal chances of snow and abnormally warm temperatures in the Appalachian mountains will also lower the chances of snowfall.

Where is it expected to snow?

Snow may extend from the southern Plains to the Midwest, Northeast, and possibly the interior Southeast states. In terms of cities it is expected that Salt Lake City, Rochester, Minneapolis, Milwaukee, and Buffalo could be in line for Christmas snowfall, based upon historical occurence.

However, it won’t be until forecasts closer to Christmas before more concrete analyses can be given.