Thunderstorms and Heavy Rainfall in the Mid-Atlantic and Southern New England; Fire Weather Concerns in the West

Heavy rain and isolated severe thunderstorms may continue to bring flash and urban flooding to the northern Mid-Atlantic and southern New England through tonight. Isolated dry thunderstorms will continue to bring a fire weather threat to the northwestern Great Basin through Friday. Read More >

Christmas

PERIOD OF RECORD: 154 YEARS (1871 - 2024)

Christmas is celebrated on December 25th. The highest temperature recorded on Christmas is 66F degrees in 1982. The lowest the mercury has fallen to on Christmas is -12F in 1980. The high temperature averages 36F degrees and the low 21F degrees on Christmas.

The greatest precipitation recorded on Christmas Day was 1.49 inches, which fell as a mixture of rain and snow in 1978. The 18.0 inches of snow measured in this Christmas storm of 1978 was also the greatest snow for Christmas Day.

Historically, there is a 56 percent chance of a white Christmas (an inch or more of snow on the ground) since snow depth records started in 1926.

Temperature (F) Data

Highest	66	1982
Lowest	-12	1980
Highest Minimum	49	1932
Lowest Maximum	4	1872
Average High	36
Average Low	21

HIGH TEMPERATURE (F) BY 10 DEGREE RANGES

(since 1940; 85 years)

	10s	20s	30s	40s	50s	60s
Number of occurrences	7	20	31	19	6	2
Percentage	8%	24%	36%	22%	7%	2%

Precipitation Data

(since 1940; 85 years)

Number of times 0.01" or greater:	49
Number of times 0.10" or greater:	17
Number of times 0.50" or greater:	7

Precipitation Records

Greatest Precipitation	1.49"	1978
Greatest Snow	18.0	1978

Almanac Data for Recent Christmas Days

Year	High	Low	Precip	Snow	Snow Depth
1980	17	-12	0.03	0.8	9
1981	35	24	0.00	0.0	2
1982	66	47	0.19	0.0	0
1983	11	1	0.09	1.4	4
1984	29	16	0.03	0.3	T

1985	18	7	T	T	3
1986	41	34	0.02	0.0	0
1987	51	36	0.03	0.0	0
1988	37	26	T	T	0
1989	20	16	0.02	0.5	7

1990	27	12	T	T	2
1991	31	12	T	0.1	2
1992	38	12	0.03	0.5	3
1993	24	14	T	0.1	1
1994	47	27	0.00	0.0	0

1995	30	24	0.07	1.4	7
1996	25	18	0.07	1.4	T
1997	44	34	0.05	0.0	0
1998	27	14	0.01	0.2	T
1999	27	10	T	0.5	2

2000	14	9	0.07	3.0	2
2001	32	26	T	T	0
2002	29	25	0.84	12.3	3
2003	37	29	0.03	0.5	0
2004	20	10	0.00	0.0	T

2005	43	31	0.12	0.0	T
2006	49	31	0.59	0.0	0
2007	34	26	T	T	1
2008	40	29	T	0.2	3
2009	39	23	0.41	0.0	1

2010	26	19	0.01	0.2	4
2011	47	26	0.02	T	0
2012	31	29	0.02	0.3	2
2013	26	4	0.00	0.0	2
2014	52	40	0.02	0.0	0

2015	50	33	0.03	0.0	0
2016	37	24	0.00	0.0	3
2017	34	17	0.06	1.0	6
2018	35	30	0.02	0.4	2
2019	48	24	0.00	0.0	0

2020	37	23	0.28	0.3	0
2021	49	38	0.47	0.0	T
2022	21	12	0.02	0.6	1
2023	57	40	0.00	0.0	0
2024	31	28	T	T	4