Hopes of White Christmas Fade Across Louisiana, Rest of Nation

Earlier this fall as Louisiana was suffering through an insufferable heatwave and extreme drought conditions we thought we saw a sign of cooler, wetter, and whiter things to come just in time for Christmas.

The long-range forecasts from the Climate Prediction Center were suggesting shifts in the then-current conditions and that appeared to give at least parts of Louisiana some hope for snowfall at Christmastime.

To be clear, it's not that unusual for Louisiana to experience some snowflakes in late December. What is highly unusual is for Louisiana to experience enough snowflakes falling on the ground that is cold enough for it to accumulate. That very seldom happens and when it does, our world comes sliding to a halt.

As you have probably deduced the long-range forecasts which called for above-average precipitation and near-normal temperatures for Louisiana in late December have been revised. The new data now suggests something different as we plan and wait for Santa's arrival on December 25th.

Here's the new outlook from the Climate Prediction Center for precipitation across Louisiana and the nation between December 20th and the day after Christmas, December 26th.

That still shows us, Louisiana, is slightly wetter than we might normally experience during an average year. So, the potential for precipitation, frozen or not frozen, will likely be there as we wrap up 2023. Now, let's look at the most important factor in wintry weather conditions, temperature.

Where once Louisiana was forecast to have normal or slightly below normal temperatures we see the face of the "Heat Miser", remember him?

That's the character from the holiday special "The Year Without a Santa Claus". Okay, we won't see him but all of the orange on the map above should tell you that it won't be colder than normal across most of the country. Forecasters now say the only parts of the nation that might see a White Christmas will be the upper elevations of some of the mountainous regions of the country.

Meanwhile, we should just change the lyrics to that song to "Brown Christmas" and include a lyric about how the concrete is always wet and how we can't keep the Christmas candles lit because the breeze from the air conditioner is too strong.