First white Christmas in Atlanta since 1882, NCDC gets new snow record in their own backyard

Apologies to my readers and my family, I made the mistake of watching TV today. So I had to report on this rare weather event.

Here’s what the National Weather Service serving Atlanta says about it:

Climatology for Christmas Day

As Christmas Day draws closer, many questions arise about what kind of weather Georgia has seen on Christmas. What has been the warmest Christmas? When was the coldest Christmas? Has Georgia ever seen a white Christmas? Here is some information that will answer some of these questions.

On average, high temperatures ranged from the mid 40s across north Georgia to the mid 60s across central Georgia. The average low temperatures range from the mid 20s across north Georgia to the mid 40s across central Georgia. However, days of Christmas past have been quite warm with the record high temperatures in the 70s across north and central Georgia. We have also seen bitterly cold Christmas days where record low temperatures were in the single digits.

While most Christmas days have been dry, record rainfall amounts have exceeded 2.0 inches at all of the climate sites.

Although we have had very cold Christmases, records show that White Christmases are rare in Georgia. The only locations that have received measureable snowfall are Atlanta and Athens, although Columbus had a trace of snow in 1970. Macon has never seen snow on Christmas day.

Avearage Maximum Temperature for Dec. 25th.	Average Minimum Temperature for Dec. 25th.
*The above data is based on climate and coop stations with at least 20 years of data.

Compare to their graphicast:

Nationally, it looks like about half of the USA had a white Christmas:

Source: http://www.nohrsc.noaa.gov/nsa/

Even Tom Karl and Thomas C. Peterson at the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) in Asheville got dumped on – 9 inches worth. Merry Christmas fellows!

It seems there was “shrinkage” in the record though:

The difference is probably due to reporting periods. The remainder of the 9 inches likely came after midnight.

While the upcoming cold won’t be a record, it is chilling. I wonder if Mr. Karl and Mr. Peterson will make it into work tomorrow?

Source: http://www.erh.noaa.gov/er/gsp/

We’ll stand by for the inevitable stories blaming this on global warming climate change climate disruption.

Alright I’m done for today, off to return some gifts and try out some new ones!