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Christmas Weather History/Extremes
Grand Island, NE
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The mention of Christmas often invokes visions of snow cover and cold weather. However, Christmas weather in south central Nebraska and north central Kansas doesn't always ring true to this picture. Just in the past 30 years, Christmas high temperatures in Grand Island have ranged from 11° to 62°! The tables below feature a wealth of Christmas Day weather and climate information focused specifically on Grand Island, Nebraska, where December weather records date back to 1895.
Temperatures: According to the entire period of record, the warmest Christmas on record was 62° on three occasions (1999,1963,1922) and the coldest low temperature was -16° in both 1983 and 1924. Only 22-of-124 Christmases on record (18%) have featured high temperatures of 50° or warmer, but FOUR of these have occurred during the last 11 years (including both 2020-21). On the opposite side of the temperature spectrum, Christmas 1983 really stands out on the bitterly cold side of things, with a high temperature of only 7° and a bone-chilling low of -16°. Despite how cold Christmas 1983 was, that day actually broke an unprecedented streak of seven consecutive days of BELOW ZERO HIGHS that lasted from Dec. 18-24, 1983!
Precipitation/Snowfall: In terms of active, memorable Christmas weather, there have been a few notable ones just in the past 13 years. We are now 13 years removed from the major Christmas blizzard of 2009! This memorable storm dumped 7.8" of wind-whipped snow on Grand Island during the calendar day, and 9.1" of storm-total snow between the 24th-26th. CLICK HERE TO SEE A RECAP OF THE 2009 CHRISTMAS BLIZZARD. Six years ago in 2016, Christmas featured extremely active weather, but it had nothing to do with snow: Instead, an unusually mild and moist airmass fueled a line of strong thunderstorms (yes, thunderstorms!) during the afternoon hours. Then, just a few hours later during the evening, an unusually strong and long-lasting high wind event occurred, featuring at least 2-3 hours of sustained westerly winds frequently 30-50 MPH and a peak gust of 75 MPH! These winds caused considerable, mainly minor damage not only within Grand Island but also across much of South Central Nebraska. CLICK HERE FOR A RECAP OF THE "CRAZY" CHRISTMAS 2016 WEATHER
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** Christmas 2021 Weather Recap (warmest Christmas since 1999!):
For the second-straight year, south central Nebraska enjoyed remarkably mild and "quiet", sunny Christmas weather. This time around, the afternoon high temperature soared to 58º, tying for the 5th-warmest Christmas on record out of 124 years...and the warmest since 62º in 1999! Fairly light westerly breezes (generally 10-17 MPH) prevailed much of the day. Prior to the afternoon warm-up, the morning was seasonably-chilly, with a low of 20º. For those snow-lovers, this was unfortunately the 4th-consecutive "brown Christmas" in Grand Island (meaning less than 1" of snow on the ground at sunrise). **
"White Christmas" Probability: The map below, from the National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI), depicts the probability of having a "White Christmas" (defined as 1" or more of morning snow depth) based on normals from 1991-2020. As depicted, most of south central Nebraska and far north central Kansas carries between a 25-40% chance of having a white Christmas. Specifically in Grand Island, there have been 9 white Christmases in the past 30 years (30% of the time). The last official White Christmas was five years ago in 2017, as 4" of snow was still on the ground (which had fallen on the 23rd-24th).
What is the Historical Probability of a White Christmas?
(click image for larger version) |
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| Based on 30-year normals 1991-2020 (NOT this year's forecast!) |
| Grand Island |
Max Temperature |
Min Temperature |
Precipitation |
| 30-Year Normals (1991-2020) |
37 |
17 |
0.03 |
| 10-Year Averages (2012-2021) |
37.8 |
17.5 |
0.06 |
| Grand Island NE Christmas Extremes (Since 1895) |
| Warmest Christmas On Record (High Temp) |
62° in 1999,1963,1922 |
| Coldest Christmas On Record (High Temp) |
7° in 1983 |
| Coldest Low Temperature |
-16° in 1983,1924 |
| Warmest Low Temperature |
34° in 1959 |
| Most Liquid Equivalent Precipitation On Record |
0.51" in 2009 |
| Snowiest Christmas Day On Record |
7.8" (2009) |
Top 5
Warmest Highs |
Top 5
Coldest Lows |
Top 5
Wettest |
Top 5
Snowfall |
Top 5
6 AM Snow Depth |
| 62° (1999,1963,1922) |
-16° (1983,1924) |
0.51" (2009) |
7.8" (2009) |
20" (1968) |
| 60° (1912) |
-8° (1962,1921) |
0.44" (2016) |
3.0" (1941) |
15" (1983) |
| 58° (2021,1950) |
-4° (1952,1948) |
0.20" (1941) |
2.0" (1913) |
12" (1973, 1945) |
| 56° (1960,1959) |
-3° (1935) |
0.17" (2015) |
1.5" (2000) |
10" (1952) |
| 55° (1931) |
-2° (1980) |
0.10" (2000) |
1.4" (2007) |
8" (2009) |
| The Last Time _____ Happened On Christmas? |
| Last time high temp at least 60º: 62° in 1999 |
| Last time high temp at least 50º: 58° in 2021 (last year) |
| Last time the high temp was 20° or colder: 12° in 2017 |
| Last time the high temp was 10° or colder: 7° in 1983 |
| Last time the low temp was 0° or colder: -1° in 1996 |
| Last time the low temp was 30° or warmer: 31° in 1989 |
| Last time measurable precipitation fell (0.01" or more): 0.03" in 2017 |
| Last time measurable snow fell (0.1" or more): 0.9" in 2017 |
| Last time the 6 AM snow depth was at least 1" (white Christmas): 4" in 2017 |
In the past 30 years...
- Since 1992, high temperatures on Christmas have ranged from 11° (1996) to 62° (1999)
- Since 1992, low temperatures on Christmas have ranged from -1° (1996) to 28° (2014)
- Since 1992, the high temp on Christmas has reached 50° or higher 8 times (2021, 2020, 2016, 2011, 2005,
2004,1999,1994)
- Since 1992, the low temperature on Christmas has dropped below 0° only ONCE (1996)
- Since 1992, measurable precipitation (0.01" or higher) has fallen seven times on Christmas (led by 0.51" in 2009)
- Since 1992, measurable snow (0.1" or higher) has fallen six times on Christmas (led by 7.8" in 2009)
- Since 1992, morning snow depth (at 6 AM) has been 1" or more 9 times (led by 8" in 2009)
Grand Island, NE - Christmas Day Summary...Last 10 Years
(2012-2021)
| Date |
Max Temperature |
Min Temperature |
Precipitation
(Inches) |
Snowfall
(Inches) |
Snow
Depth
(6AM) |
Weather Conditions |
| 12/25/2012 |
14 |
2 |
0.00 |
0.0 |
3 |
partly cloudy, cold |
| 12/25/2013 |
44 |
21 |
0.00 |
0.0 |
0 |
sunny, breezy |
| 12/25/2014 |
45 |
28 |
0.00 |
0.0 |
0 |
sunny, light wind |
| 12/25/2015 |
31 |
13 |
0.17 |
0.6 |
1 |
evening thunderstorm
with graupel! |
| 12/25/2016 |
53 |
26 |
0.44 |
0.0 |
0 |
afternoon thunderstorms...evening high winds up to 75 MPH!! |
| 12/25/2017 |
12 |
2 |
0.03 |
0.9 |
4 |
coldest Christmas avg. daily temp since 1996! |
| 12/25/2018 |
39 |
19 |
0.00 |
0.0 |
0 |
dense fog in AM and evening |
| 12/25/2019 |
32 |
27 |
Trace |
0.0 |
0 |
dense fog AM, low clouds |
| 12/25/2020 |
50 |
17 |
0.00 |
0.0 |
T |
seasonably-mild and sunny |
| 12/25/2021 |
58 |
20 |
0.00 |
0.0 |
0 |
sunny, warmest since 1999! |
| 10-Year Averages |
37.8 |
17.5 |
0.06 |
0.1 |
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| Christmas Day Extremes...Last 10 Years: Grand Island, NE (2012-2021) |
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| Warmest high temperature: 58° in 2021 (last year) |
| Coldest high temperature: 12° in 2017 (5th-coldest on record!) |
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| Coldest low temperature: 2° in 2017, 2012 |
| Warmest low temperature: 28° in 2014 |
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| Highest Precipitation: 0.44" in 2016 (associated with rain/thunderstorms!) |
| Highest Snowfall: 0.9" in 2017 |
For more climate related information, check out the following websites:
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