Could Mississippi see a 'White Christmas?' See what forecasts say

Is a White Christmas in the cards for Jackson and central Mississippi during 2023?

Well, a wet Christmas might be in store for 2023, with forecasts for rain and highs upper 50s and low-to-mid 60s.

White Christmases have happened before. Indeed, freezing precipitation during December has happened before in the area as recently as Dec. 8, 2017 when Jackson recorded 4.9 inches of snow — described at the time as the largest local snowfall since 1982. Before that, the city experienced a slightly smaller snow on Dec. 11, 2008 resulting from a heavier axis that stretched from McComb to Morton.

And records from the National Weather Service reveal that the city has seen snow on Christmas Day at least a few times in recorded history notably in 1855, 1929 and 1963. There were also some accumulations of freezing rain in 1998.

But freezing weather on Christmas Day in Jackson is far more the exception than the rule. The average high temperature here on Dec. 25 is 56.4 degrees Fahrenheit — nearly 25 degrees above freezing — with record highs of 80 degrees reported in 1942 and 2015. The average low is also above freezing at 36.1 degrees, but a record low of only 7 degrees was reported in 1983 as extreme cold gripped much of the Deep South that year.

A map created by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration also suggests that the probability of snow anywhere in Mississippi on Christmas Day falls far below even a 10 % chance.

WAPT television’s Chief Meteorologist David Hartman was asked his thoughts are on the possibility of a White Christmas for Jackson in 2023.

“There is zero percent chance of snow for Christmas based on the forecast weather patterns for the rest of December. A strong El Niño is in progress in the Pacific and cold air is hard to come by in the USA, let alone the South,” Hartman responded.

Forecasts from the Weather Channel echo Hartman’s assessment. The channel’s website is predicting some rain with highs in the mid 60s and overnight lows between the upper 30s and lower 50s leading up to Christmas Day on Monday — temperatures far too warm for snow or freezing rain.

Of course if you’re really determined to experience a White Christmas, one option might be to pack your bags and start driving north. Even then, you may be in for a long trip.

Anastasia Bamford is a veterinary specialist who lives in Duluth, Minnesota, a city more than 450 miles north of Chicago. On Friday she described weather there as “35F and raining.” She said there was a possibility of some snow in the forecast, “but we have not seen it yet this year.”

Farther west, musician John Rosett who lives in Missoula, Montana, said, “It’s been a little warmer and less snowy than usual here. We're having teens-twenties at night, and 30’s in the daytime. The forecast calls for no precipitation and highs in the high 30’s through the rest of the month.”

A better chance to find snow this time of year might be in the northern New England states, where mountainous resort towns often see the white powder as early as October.

John Hagman, an entrepreneur and photographer who lives in Hinesburg, Vermont said mountains at the nearby Stowe, Vermont resorts “have a 24-inch base now.” Often called “The Ski Capital of the East,” Stowe has long been known for its winter recreation opportunities.

A current snow depth map published by the U.S. Department of Agriculture is also showing significant accumulation in parts of North Dakota as well as the Rocky Mountains stretching from southern Colorado to Idaho. The mountainous regions of eastern Washington, Oregon and California are also showing significant snow on the ground.

And with Christmas Day still a week away, weather experts acknowledge conditions and temperatures can turn on a dime — even when forecasters have the most sophisticated equipment to make predictions.

Nevertheless, any chance for snow near Jackson soon appears very remote. So for those of you still dreaming of a White Christmas in Mississippi, the best plan right now might be to just keep dreaming. It probably won’t happen this year, but dreams, after all, take time.

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Forecast for White Christmas or snow in Mississippi in 2023