(NEXSTAR) – If falling snowflakes are on top of your holiday wish list, a tool from the Farmer’s Almanac can help you figure out if you’ll get your White Christmas this year.
The publication is known for its long-range forecasting of weather patterns, and this year the Almanac sees snow on or around Christmas for much of the country. The publication projects snow across the Northeast, Rockies, and Upper Midwest leading up to the holiday, with a mix of rain and snow for much of the east. The West Coast and South should expect mild and maybe even warm weather for the season.
If those projections aren’t specific enough for you, the Almanac will let you plug in your city or zip code here for a local weather outlook.
It’s nearly impossible to accurately track storm conditions this far out from December 25th, but the NOAA Climate Prediction Center does also attempt to project the likelihood that weather will be wetter or dryer than normal. NOAA’s prediction map for December shows only the Northeast likely to see more than the typical number of wet days this month.
Much of the country is experiencing the impacts of a La Niña weather pattern, characterized by warmer than typical conditions for much of the West, where drought is becoming an increasing concern.
The National Weather Service office in Billings, Montana says that a White Christmas is considered over an inch of snowfall as measured at 5 a.m. on December 25th.
NOAA scientists have actually plotted how frequently that has happened across the country. Click here to see how common a white Christmas is in your area.