PHILADELPHIA - Keep dreaming of a white Christmas in Philadelphia, the Delaware Valley, and Lehigh Valley because it's not happening this year.
It's actually rare to get or have snow on the ground on Christmas. There's only a 16 percent chance in any year.
While we've had a few Christmases with flurries over the last decade, 2002 was the last Christmas when we had snow fall and stick to the ground on Santa’s big day. We received an inch in Philly that year on Christmas Day. The last time we had snow on the ground on Christmas morning was 2009. That was left over from a snowstorm that happened a week before Christmas that year.
This year, if you want a white Christmas, there's always the Poconos. It'll be cold enough to have the snow machines going.
Or, head to New England. Portions of New England are forecasted to receive snow Christmas Eve morning. So, people up there get to wake up to snow still on the ground as they open gifts.
On Christmas Day, head to Utah for fresh, falling snow.
Otherwise, it's quiet across the country around this Christmas with some rain in the center of the U.S.
Back at home in the Philadelphia area, we're dry, and we’ll stay dry all week.
After a cloudy start on Christmas Eve morning, we'll get the sun back by the afternoon. Under clear skies, temperatures fall to the 20s on Christmas Eve.
Christmas day, the sun will shine all day as highs hit 40 degrees.
In fact, our highs keep going up through the rest of the week, and we will end 2024 in the 50s. We also start 2025 in the 50s before it gets very cold again a few days into the New Year.