Christmas Day's current and past weather extremes

Our planet continues to go through this unbelievable cycle of wide weather “extremes.” For Christmas of 2017, this day will be no exception.

For the past week, the residents of Alaska have been experiencing record warmth. Anchorage and Juneau experienced the warmest first two weeks on record. High temperatures were up into the lower 50s earlier this month. The normal high for these regions are in the mid 20s. Fairbanks has reported readings 20 degrees above average levels in early to mid-December. This will probably be Alaska’s warmest December in recorded history. This week, the cold air returns and readings should be getting back to levels normally seen at this time of year.

In Hawaii, locals are literally “shivering” with temperatures in the upper 60s to low 70s for daytime highs. Yes, that is chilly for them. I have a relative in Oahu and she tells me that she’s been wrapped in blankets due to the chillier-than-average weather.

In California, nearly continuous gusty Santa Ana winds earlier this month helped to create the biggest fires in the state’s history, as over 273,000 acres have burned. This surpassed the Cedar fire back in 2003.

In the central U.S., frigid cold is the weather story for Christmas Day. Highs near the Canadian border were below zero, with overnight lows down to minus 20 degrees in some areas. The unusually cold weather has made it down to the southern U.S. once again.

Here in North Idaho, to the delight of many, we have another year with snow on the ground on Christmas Day. It looked a little shaky last week with a milder storm, but temperatures stayed a little lower and made all the difference in the world. Cliff and I tell everyone that a few degrees often make a huge difference for snow or rain in Coeur d’Alene and surrounding regions.

For the 2017-18 snowfall season, we’re already over 2 feet of the white stuff at Cliff’s station. In the mountains, about 10 feet has fallen thus far at Silver Mountain with close to 50 inches in the ground along the higher peaks. At 49 Degrees North, over 100 inches has fallen for the season. Lookout Pass has also reported over 100 inches of snow, so the skiing is looking good for quite some time.

For those who want more snow for the start of 2018, we have good news. Cliff and I think that January will be the snowiest month of the season. The full moon cycle begins on Jan. 1, and shortly after the New Year, we see another series of storms from the Gulf of Alaska that will bring us a lot of snow in the mountains and lower elevations. Assuming the cooler than normal sea-surface temperature event, La Nina, continues at least through the winter season, we still expect to see around 85 to 90 inches of total snowfall in Coeur d’Alene by early May.

According to information and data from David Ludlum, the National Weather Summary and Storm Data, there have been instances of a white Christmas in parts of the U.S. that rarely see snow at all. For example, in 1987, residents of Tucson, Ariz., awoke to snow on the ground on Christmas Day for the first time in recorded history. The same storm brought freezing rain from Texas to Missouri.

One year later, 1988, Las Vegas reported snow on the ground on Christmas Day for the first time in its history. The ski areas of Colorado were hit with over 5 feet of new snow on that date. The following year, 1989, had record cold in the southeastern U.S. all the way down to Miami, Fla. Readings were below zero in North Carolina.

In Texas, a record 4.4 inches fell in Corpus Christi in 2004. It was their second white Christmas in history. Severe weather has also been reported on Christmas Day. In 2006, four tornadoes were reported in Florida, with Daytona Beach being one of the hardest-hit areas.

One of the biggest snowstorms on Dec. 25 occurred in 2010 across the eastern U.S. A three-day storm that began on Christmas Day dumped over 2 feet of snow on New York City, shutting down airports and other forms of public transportation.

Here in Coeur d’Alene, it’s certainly going to be a chilly Christmas Day. But in 1924, the mercury went down to a record minus 4 degrees. The warmest Dec. 25th happened in 1980 with a high of 52 degrees. In terms of moisture, we had .78 inches back in 1996. The snowiest Christmas Day occurred in 1996 as 4.8 inches fell on that date.

Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

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Contact Randy Mann at [email protected]