Weather Service Reveals Louisiana’s Chances for a White Christmas

Louisana families love to look forward to the prospects of snow the same way that Atlanta Falcons fans look forward to a Super Bowl win. It's fun to dream about but the chances of it happening are about the same as you being able to purchase the new Chick-fil-A pimento cheese sandwich on a Sunday after church.

That being said Louisiana has had its bouts of ice and snow. And based on what we've been able to glean from the long-range, very long-range forecasts published by the National Weather Service this winter could bring some extreme cold to the country.

But will that extreme cold be a part of Louisiana's winter? And more importantly, what are the chances of that extreme cold weather infiltrating Louisiana in late December accompanied by frozen precipitation on Christmas Day?

Okay, I get it, I understand your question "Why are we even talking about this right now"? I realize we haven't even had our first cold snap of the fall. By the way, here's when that is forecast to happen. It probably won't but here's the "guess" anyway.

So, we are coming off of the warmest summer in the history of the planet, and in the space of three months, we are going to chill down enough for frozen precipitation to "stick" on the ground. That's a pretty tall order, but there is not only a chance that could happen there is precedent.

You see, the National Weather Service actually tracks where it snows and when it snows and they have the data compiled for decades concerning Louisiana and a White Christmas. By the way, the Weather Service defines a "White Christmas" as December 25th with one inch of snow on the ground or snow falling that day.

As we mentioned, this year Old Man Winter is expected to exact a little payback for all the summer heat and forecasters are saying that a larger-than-usual part of the country could experience a "White Christmas" this year. Traditionally only 37% of the continental United States has snow for Christmas, just for reference sake.

What Are Louisiana's Chances of a White Christmas in 2023?

Let's just say they're small. Miniscule might be an even better word. Ain't gonna happen would be the most accurate though. According to the National Weather Service historical outlook the closest Louisiana might come to a White Christmas is "all of Arkansas and some of Missouri away". Yeah, you'll probably have to hit Branson or someplace further north if you really want to see snow on Christmas Day.

Even with an elevated chance of a much colder winter across the country, Louisiana just doesn't stand that much of a chance for frozen precipitation that early in the winter season. Remember winter doesn't begin until December 21st which is just four days before Christmas Day.

January is actually our coldest month but the fact is, it's really not that cold at all. Our average high temperature in January is about 60 degrees, maybe a little warmer even. The average low is only 40 degrees which is too warm to support snow accumulation. But at least in January, we do have some days where the temperature will drop below the freezing mark.  But that's going to be a little too late to create a White Christmas.

Actually, you'll probably need these swimming pools before you'd ever need your snow shoes if we are being honest.