Active Weather for the West, Warming in the East

The potential for heavy snow at higher elevations in the western U.S. will continue for many spots through the weekend. In the meantime, the eastern half of the continental U.S. will transition to above normal temperatures ahead of a pair of cold fronts next week that will bring readings back to closer to normal as we approach Thanksgiving Day. Read More >

Historical Chances for a White Christmas?

"Will we have a White Christmas?" It is one of the big questions asked every holiday season. The graphics below were created from historical data from NOAA'S National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI). It reflects the normal chance, or probability, of a White Christmas based on data from the 1981-2010 three-decade averages. A White Christmas is defined as having 1 inch or more of snow on the ground Christmas morning. The graphics provide a general sense of the likelihood of a White Christmas over the entire country and the southwest. They are based on the latest (1981-2010) U.S. Climate Normals from NOAA's NCEI. A more detailed overview of the White Christmas statistics for the Grand Junction, Colorado area can be found below. For more information regarding other locations in eastern Utah and western Colorado, Click HERE.

For a prediction of your actual weather on Christmas Day, check out your local forecast at weather.gov/gjt.

Click on the images below to enlarge.


National White Christmas Map - Based on 1981-2010 Normals	Southwest White Christmas Map - Based on 1981-2010 Normals

Grand Junction, Colorado White Christmas Statistics

In a location that averages only 19.1 inches of snow annually, it’s not surprising that a White Christmas is rare in the Grand Valley. Only 20 Christmases have seen measurable (greater than a trace) new snowfall since 1893 (or, about 16% of the time). Only four of these days recorded more than an inch. Another definition of a White Christmas can mean the presence of snow cover on the ground (with or without snowfall that day). 32% of Christmas Days in Grand Junction’s recorded history have seen measurable snow on the ground.

41 days had an inch or more of snow on the ground on Christmas morning.

It's important to understand "when" snow depths are measured in Grand Junction. For our office, the official snow depth for the day is measured at 5 am MST. So, while snow may actually fall on Christmas Day, if it doesn't fall before 5 am, it doesn't "count" in the snow depth totals for that day. However, it does count when we are talking about a White Christmas in the snowfall column. That's why we have two different "meanings" of a White Christmas - snow depth and snowfall.

2015 had the most snowfall in recorded history in Grand Junction, measuring 5.7 inches with just about all of that snow falling after 5 am. Other big snowfall years were 1983 (3.5"), 1904 (2.9"), and 1940 (2.2").

As far as snow depths, the big winner was the Christmas of 1983 when we had 7 inches of snow on the ground. And not to be outdone, 1967 and 1909 both had 6 inches of snow.

The last White Christmas Grand Junction recorded was in 2018. Prior to that, we had either snow falling or snow on the ground from 2011 to 2016. You can see our official records below, we've triple checked these.

Grand Junction (Walker Field) Christmas Day Climate Records (1893-2019)
Year	Date	Day	Max	Min	Avg T	Precip	Snowfall	SnowDepth
1893	12-25	Mon	44	30	37	0	0	M
1894	12-25	Tue	36	25	31	0	0	M
1895	12-25	Wed	29	3	16	0	0	M
1896	12-25	Fri	34	12	23	0	0	M
1897	12-25	Sat	24	4	14	0	0	M
1898	12-25	Sun	25	6	16	0	0	M
1899	12-25	Mon	34	5	20	0	0	M
1900	12-25	Tue	40	11	26	0	0	0
1901	12-25	Wed	44	23	34	0	0	0
1902	12-25	Thu	31	8	20	0	0	1
1903	12-25	Fri	37	12	25	0	0	0
1904	12-25	Sun	37	27	32	0.24	2.9	1
1905	12-25	Mon	35	10	23	0	0	0
1906	12-25	Tue	48	23	36	0	0	0
1907	12-25	Wed	44	23	34	0	0	0
1908	12-25	Fri	29	0	15	0	0	4
1909	12-25	Sat	16	-15	1	0	0	6
1910	12-25	Sun	34	20	27	0	0	2
1911	12-25	Mon	24	-4	10	T	T	1
1912	12-25	Wed	30	9	20	T	T	0
1913	12-25	Thu	26	8	17	0.04	0.6	3
1914	12-25	Fri	37	13	25	0	0	T
1915	12-25	Sat	26	14	20	0	0	T
1916	12-25	Mon	41	25	33	T	T	T
1917	12-25	Tue	47	19	33	0	0	0
1918	12-25	Wed	28	6	17	0	0	2
1919	12-25	Thu	26	0	13	0	0	3
1920	12-25	Sat	28	13	21	0.01	0.1	1
1921	12-25	Sun	38	25	32	T	T	T
1922	12-25	Mon	35	19	27	0.03	0.2	T
1923	12-25	Tue	40	14	27	0	0	0
1924	12-25	Thu	9	-17	-4	0	0	4
1925	12-25	Fri	46	23	35	0	0	0
1926	12-25	Sat	24	7	16	0	0	T
1927	12-25	Sun	33	10	22	0	0	T
1928	12-25	Tue	33	5	19	0	0	T
1929	12-25	Wed	35	10	23	0	0	0
1930	12-25	Thu	32	10	21	0	0	0
1931	12-25	Fri	38	15	27	0	0	T
1932	12-25	Sun	24	5	15	T	T	4
1933	12-25	Mon	43	22	33	0	0	0
1934	12-25	Tue	46	22	34	0	0	0
1935	12-25	Wed	46	16	31	0	0	0
1936	12-25	Fri	41	22	32	0.06	T	0
1937	12-25	Sat	32	12	22	M	0.2	2
1938	12-25	Sun	30	8	19	0	0	T
1939	12-25	Mon	39	18	29	0.03	0.3	0
1940	12-25	Wed	39	29	34	0.3	2.2	1
1941	12-25	Thu	36	26	31	T	T	T
1942	12-25	Fri	47	31	39	T	0	0
1943	12-25	Sat	37	26	32	0.01	0.4	0
1944	12-25	Mon	43	25	34	T	T	0
1945	12-25	Tue	35	27	31	0.01	0.1	0
1946	12-25	Wed	48	28	38	T	T	0
1947	12-25	Thu	43	21	32	0	0	T
1948	12-25	Sat	24	5	15	0	0	2
1949	12-25	Sun	28	12	20	0	0	T
1950	12-25	Mon	48	21	35	0	0	0
1951	12-25	Tue	36	13	25	0	0	T
1952	12-25	Thu	30	15	23	0	0	0
1953	12-25	Fri	37	13	25	0	0	0
1954	12-25	Sat	34	18	26	0	0	T
1955	12-25	Sun	58	45	52	0	0	0
1956	12-25	Tue	32	10	21	0	0	2
1957	12-25	Wed	44	22	33	0	0	1
1958	12-25	Thu	37	24	31	0.01	0.1	0
1959	12-25	Fri	47	34	41	0.12	0	T
1960	12-25	Sun	43	18	31	0	0	0
1961	12-25	Mon	27	7	17	0	0	3
1962	12-25	Tue	20	-4	8	T	0.1	4
1963	12-25	Wed	40	13	27	0	0	3
1964	12-25	Fri	49	33	41	T	0	0
1965	12-25	Sat	37	15	26	0	0	T
1966	12-25	Sun	35	14	25	0	0	0
1967	12-25	Mon	20	-3	9	T	T	6
1968	12-25	Wed	33	12	23	T	T	2
1969	12-25	Thu	45	25	35	0	0	0
1970	12-25	Fri	37	14	26	0	0	0
1971	12-25	Sat	60	39	50	0.01	0	T
1972	12-25	Mon	36	19	28	T	T	2
1973	12-25	Tue	35	16	26	T	T	T
1974	12-25	Wed	25	1	13	0	0	0
1975	12-25	Thu	40	22	31	T	T	T
1976	12-25	Sat	38	9	24	0	0	0
1977	12-25	Sun	43	21	32	0	0	T
1978	12-25	Mon	28	6	17	0	0	3
1979	12-25	Tue	33	17	25	0	0	1
1980	12-25	Thu	52	26	39	0	0	0
1981	12-25	Fri	30	16	23	T	T	0
1982	12-25	Sat	36	22	29	0	0	1
1983	12-25	Sun	34	25	30	0.45	3.5	7
1984	12-25	Tue	37	20	29	0	0	0
1985	12-25	Wed	46	23	35	0	0	T
1986	12-25	Thu	42	16	29	0	0	0
1987	12-25	Fri	23	4	14	0	0	2
1988	12-25	Sun	49	25	37	0.05	0.5	T
1989	12-25	Mon	47	19	33	0	0	0
1990	12-25	Tue	22	2	12	T	T	2
1991	12-25	Wed	31	15	23	0	0	1
1992	12-25	Fri	33	6	20	0	0	T
1993	12-25	Sat	38	9	24	0	0	T
1994	12-25	Sun	50	32	41	0	0	0
1995	12-25	Mon	41	14	28	0	0	0
1996	12-25	Wed	34	13	24	0	0	T
1997	12-25	Thu	32	10	21	0	0	T
1998	12-25	Fri	21	-1	10	0	0	2
1999	12-25	Sat	48	22	35	0	0	0
2000	12-25	Mon	41	22	32	0.03	0.7	1
2001	12-25	Tue	37	12	25	0	0	T
2002	12-25	Wed	32	20	26	T	0.1	T
2003	12-25	Thu	45	24	35	T	T	0
2004	12-25	Sat	35	12	24	0	0	0
2005	12-25	Sun	49	23	36	0	0	0
2006	12-25	Mon	34	12	23	0	0	1
2007	12-25	Tue	31	9	20	T	0.2	3
2008	12-25	Thu	43	19	31	0.01	0.3	5
2009	12-25	Fri	24	1	13	0	0	3
2010	12-25	Sat	48	28	38	0	0	0
2011	12-25	Sun	36	13	25	0	0	1
2012	12-25	Tue	26	7	17	0	0	4
2013	12-25	Wed	31	8	20	0	0	4
2014	12-25	Thu	35	26	31	0.08	0.8	0
2015	12-25	Fri	29	13	21	0.28	5.7	1
2016	12-25	Sun	41	31	36	T	T	T
2017	12-25	Mon	42	23	33	0	0	0
2018	12-25	Tue	50	28	39	0.39	0.7	1
2019	12-25	Wed	40	30	35	0.17	T	0
		Averages:	60	-17	26.2	0.45	5.7	7

		Historical Odds of a White Christmas (POR)					16%	32%

The following is a list of the Top 10 greatest snowfall and snow depths recorded in Grand Junction on Christmas Day:

Highest Snowfall			Greatest Snow Depth

1.	5.7"	2015	1.	7"	1983
2.	3.5"	1983	2.	6"	1967, 1909
3.	2.9"	1904	3.	5"	2008
4.	2.2"	1940	4.	4"	2013/2012/1962
5.	0.8"	2014	5.	4"	1932/1924/1908
6.	0.7"	2018, 2000	6.	3"	2009/2007/1978/1963
7.	0.6"	1913	7.	3"	1961/1919/1913
8.	0.5"	1988	8.	2"	1998/1990/1987
9.	0.4"	1943	9.	2"	1972/1968/1954
10.	0.3"	2008, 1939	10.	1"	2015/2006/2000/1991
11.	0.2"	2007, 1937, 1922

That coldest Christmas on record for Grand Junction (since 1893) occurred in 1924, when residents awoke to a morning low of -17 degrees. The period from December 24th to December 27th that year saw morning lows ranging from -15 degrees to -21 degrees during each of the four days. Daytime highs rose no higher than 12 degrees. (1924 was the 7th coldest Grand Junction December on record).

The last below zero temperature in Grand Junction recorded on Christmas Morning was in 1998 when the thermometer bottomed out at -1 degrees F.

The warmest Christmas Day in Grand Junction weather records saw a high temperature of 60 degrees F in 1971.

Image of snow in Grand Junction, CO

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