No White Christmas: Quiet, mild holiday in New England
BOSTON - It's the most wonderful time of the year! Well, once you get past the last-minute shopping, sitting in traffic and braving lines at the airport and grocery store. Christmas comes with a lot of stressors, but the one true wildcard is always the weather. Bad weather over the holidays is, by far, the one factor that can turn even the most joyous, festive person into a grinch. Nobody wants to be stuck in an airport or endure a white-knuckle ride to grandma's house.
Well, here is your first present of the season, courtesy of the WBZ NEXT Weather Team. The weather is looking great for the holiday this year! In fact, temperatures will be about double what they were last Christmas!
Let's back up a tad as I am sure that most of you are just as concerned with the weather leading up to the big day.
There will be one storm of note that will be impacting the United States over the next several days. It starts in two pieces. Through Friday there will be a whole bunch of rain in southern California and a mix of rain and snow in the Pacific Northwest.
By Saturday, those two storms will merge into one, larger storm over the Rocky Mountains. Therefore, we expect rain east of the Rockies into parts of Texas and Oklahoma and snow in the higher elevations from Montana to Colorado.
On Sunday, the storm moves into the Central Plains. Periods of heavy rain will extend from Minnesota all the way to Louisiana. On the backside of the storm, snow will be accumulating in parts of Nebraska and the Dakotas.
This storm will be a slow mover, nearly slowing to a halt in Nebraska and Iowa. It will be a rainy Christmas Day from Chicago to Nashville through the panhandle of Florida. Meanwhile, in western parts of Nebraska and the Dakotas, the snow will continue to fly, dropping more than 6 inches in parts of the area.
Notice I haven't mentioned New England at all? That's because things here will be pretty darn quiet. High pressure will sit overhead for just about the entire holiday stretch. The only potential hiccup would be a very weak disturbance on Saturday night and Sunday. There may be just an isolated sprinkle or flurry, generally more likely in Western Mass and in parts of central and northern New England.
For those holding out hope for a white Christmas, let me assure you, this is not your year; 2023 will go down as a brown year for just about all of New England, which is pretty rare. On average, Boston has a white Christmas less than 1 in every 4 years. The farther north and west you live, your odds go up quite significantly. From Worcester to Lawrence (495 area), you typically have about a 50% chance. In the higher elevations of Western Mass, New Hampshire and Vermont, the odds are 75% or higher.
Santa will have a smooth, easy ride throughout the Northeast this year. Temperatures on Christmas Eve will fall into the upper 20s and low 30s overnight under mainly clear skies.
Christmas day will be mainly sunny and somewhat mild! Afternoon highs will top out near 50 degrees with very little wind.
The entire WBZ Weather Team would like to wish you and yours a safe, healthy and happy holiday. Enjoy the nice weather!