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SANTA ASKS NOAA: WHO WILL HAVE A WHITE CHRISTMAS?

December 14, 2001 — NOAA reports that Santa Claus has contacted the agency to determine which areas of the country are likely to have snow at Christmas time.

To help Santa with his travel plans, NOAA's National Climatic Data Center has created a report that is available online. The report contains maps and tables showing the percent probabilities for a snow depth of at least one inch on Christmas morning, as well as the probabilities for a depth of at least five inches and 10 inches. These probabilities are based on long-term climatology and not on current weather patterns. The report is available online.

The actual conditions may vary widely from these probabilities. The snow on the ground or snowfall on Christmas day will depend on the actual weather pattern during that time. These probabilities are useful as a guide only to show where snow on the ground is more likely. To obtain the latest weather forecast for your area, contact NOAA's National Weather Service.

NOAA's National Climatic Data Center has more than 150 years of weather data on hand. These data range from handwritten observations taken by volunteers in the 19th century to more sophisticated radar, radiosonde, rocketsonde and satellite observations by state-of-the-art equipment. The data include satellite weather images back to 1960, with 55 gigabytes of new information added each day—that is equivalent to 18 million pages a day.

Relevant Web Sites
NOAA'S Probability of a White Christmas

NOAA PLACES INTERACTIVE SNOWFALL MAPS AND DATA ONLINE

Winter Weather Watches, Warnings and Advisories — What do they all mean?

NOAA's Seasonal Outlook

U.S. Outlook Maps

NOAA's Climate Prediction Center

NOAA's Weather Page

NOAA's Storm Watch

NOAA's National Weather Service

Media Contact:
Patricia Viets, NOAA, (301) 457-5005

 

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