How far do you have to travel for a white Christmas?

jacksonville, florida – The entire Southeast is well on its way to its coldest Christmas in decades, but despite the cold weather, no snow is in the forecast.

Cold air is too dry for precipitation, let alone snow.

But the cool air might make you want to celebrate Christmas weekend even more. It’s a white Christmas.

As it does almost every year, on Christmas morning, it has to travel north again to get snow on the ground.

But how far do you have to travel?

Definition of White Christmas

In case you didn’t know, the US National Weather Service has an official definition of White Christmas.

To have a White Christmas, there must be at least an inch of snow on the ground on Christmas morning.

This means that falling snow or partially melted snow from previous storms is not counted.

This raises the bar for a White Christmas. That means you have to drive a little farther.

historical white christmas

Many Rocky Mountain states, the Upper Midwest, and northern New England typically see a white Christmas each year.

As you enter the southeast, the odds drop rapidly.

With the winter season just beginning, cold air is pushing into the southeast, making it difficult for showers to turn into snow showers.

This year, however, cold weather will take hold in many parts of the eastern United States.

perfect place for a white christmas

Within normal driving distance, the most likely destinations are the mountains of North Carolina.

Because of the high terrain, rain turns to snow, and it often snows in cities such as Asheville, North Carolina.

This year, however, a cold front sweeps through the region, minimizing snow showers. In fact, the highest mountains in North Carolina may be the only ones that get snow.

Now let’s go further north.

An arctic cold front could bring snowpack to Tennessee’s Cumberland Plateau Thursday night.

This is the corridor between Nashville and Knoxville.

The current forecast calls for 1 to 3 inches of snow in the area from Thursday evening through early Friday morning.

Temperatures in the area are so cold on Friday and Saturday that much of that snow is likely to linger until Christmas morning.

Near the Kentucky border there may be a little more, but this part of Tennessee seems like the best chance for a White Christmas.

Other areas a little farther afield with good white Christmas potential are the mountainous regions of eastern West Virginia and western Virginia, and parts of central Kentucky.

Despite the chilly winds, we still have to head north again for a picturesque white Christmas.