PORTLAND, Maine — Many are dreaming of a white Christmas, but unfortunately I have to be Scrooge and ruin those dreams for 2023. With the rain and warm temperatures, the fluffy white stuff just is not in the cards.
This year, the majority of the state—and the country—will not have snow on the ground for Christmas Day.
Lets take a look at how likely different areas of the country are to have snow. It makes sense that the farther north you go, the more likely you are to have snow on the ground. The farther south, the less likely of having snow for Christmas.
In Maine, we have snow at least half of the time, which is more than most other states can say. To qualify as a "white Christmas" we are usually looking for at least an inch of snow on the ground. Portland gets that 59% of the time, while areas farther inland have it about 75% of the time.
If you're looking for snow you can get outside and play in—let's say 6 inches or more—that happens even less frequently.
Nonetheless, we still get snow falling on Christmas Day sometimes for a picturesque backdrop to the holiday. Bangor had its most snowfall on Christmas 2017 than any other 12/25 on record.
The good, or bad, news (depending on if you want to drag everyone else down with us) is that it's not just Maine that is low on snow. If we look to past Christmas snow cover on the national level, we're at a 20-year low for national snow coverage. As of 12/21/23, only 14.3% of the country had snow on the ground.
Here's the bright spot: It's not snow that makes the holiday special. It's the time spent with loved ones. So even though you'll see your dying grass all day long, you'll still have a great Christmas.
- Aaron
