It’s about that time of the year where the forecast starts to come into focus for whether or not we will have a White Christmas or not. This year, if you couldn’t tell from the less than half-inch of snow that has fallen – in total – this season that Denver has got, snow hasn’t been very common. However, there are several areas across Colorado where you are guaranteed a White Christmas.
Historically, there is a 40% chance of seeing a White Christmas in Denver. That’s based on data from 1990-2020. A White Christmas is considered to be a White Christmas based on if there is more than one inch of snow on the ground on Christmas day. Here’s a list of cities across Colorado and their chance of seeing a White Christmas.
Pueblo – 15% chance
Colorado Springs – 21% chance
Grand Junction – 27% chance
Buena Vista – 34% chance
Ft. Collins – 34% chance
Limon – 36% chance
Denver – 40% chance
Castle Rock – 43% chance
Boulder – 47% chance
Glenwood Springs – 56% chance
Durango – 79% chance
Pagosa Springs – 82% chance
Dillon – 90% chance
Telluride – 97% chance
Steamboat Springs – 98% chance
Crested Butte – 99% chance
Obviously, the mountains have a much better chance of seeing a White Christmas than any other area of the state but some people would consider snow falling on Christmas day to be a White Christmas. So, what are those chances?
Forecast
The forecast across Colorado through the weekend and into the beginning of next week is expected to be dry and seasonable. There looks to be a storm moving into Colorado around Christmas Eve but this will be confined to the mountains leaving the I-25 corridor dry. Another storm looks possible on Christmas to the day after but again, that storm looks to be confined to the high elevations. NOAA’s forecast for temperature and precipitation between the 22-26 of December does not look promising for cold.
The temperature forecast looks downright warm for all of Colorado. This alludes to the days leading up to Christmas being very warm. There is a signal for above-average precipitation during this period which mainly includes the mountains. The I-25 corridor is looking at near-normal precipitation – but during this time of year, that’s not much.
For Denver and the Urban Corridor, it’s not looking good for snow before or on Christmas this year. You’ll have to head to the mountains for that.
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