White Christmas In Iowa? Weather Forecasters Say Don't Bet On It

DES MOINES, IA — Anyone looking for a white Christmas this year might not like the odds that it will happen in the metro area. Historically, the capital city has had snow on the ground on Dec. 25 at an inch or more deeper only 43 percent of the time, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

And it has fallen on Christmas Day only 20 percent of the 133 dates records by the National Weather Service. So much for that song.

The snowiest Christmas Day on record came in 1909, with 4.1 of the white stuff on the ground. In the past decade, however, we've had only one white Christmas in Des Moines: 3.4 inches were on the ground in 2009. The other nine years we've had trace amounts on four occasions and no snow on five.

The Des Moines area has yet to see a measurable snowfall — 0.1 of an inch or more — this season and conditions through the remainder of the year are expected to remain dry, with the exception of light drizzle tonight beginning around 7 p.m. As temperatures drop that could cause icy conditions in the metro area and through the central portion of the state in a band that extends from Mason City on the north to Warren County on the south.

But the accumulation will be slight and the weather should clear up by 10 p.m., according to the weather service, which cautions that a "light glaze is likely on roadways and bridges, especially if the surface is untreated."

Snow is forecast in the northern half of the state over the next three days, but accumulation is expected to be well under an inch.

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Detailed information from weather stations across the country puts the historical percentage of snow a little higher just north of the capital city, with 45 percent in Johnston — but it drops to only 41 percent in Ankeny. Go figure.

Weather history has some "sure bet" sites if you really need to the white stuff to make the holiday complete. NOAA data says you'll almost always find snow at Christmas in northern Minnesota, much of Idaho, West Virginia, Maine, upstate New York and, of course, in the the Allegheny Mountains of Pennslvania, the Sierra Nevadas and the Rockies.

Deepest Christmas Snow Cover

According to the National Weather Service, the 10 years with the deepest snow cover on Christmas Day in the Des Moines area were:

• 1961: 17 inches
• 1909: 13 inches
• 2000: 9 inches
• 1895, 2009: 8 inches
• 1945, 1983, 1985, 2008: 6.7 inches
• 1919, 1925, 1951, 2010, 2012: 6 inches

Image via Annika/Morguefile