Have you been dreaming of a white Christmas in Columbus?
You’ll probably have to keep dreaming until Christmas 2025.
There’s no chance of snow in the forecast for Christmas Day in Columbus, but fans of grey skies and rain are in for a treat. The forecast calls for showers and a mostly cloudy Christmas with a high temperature of around 45 degrees, according to the National Weather Service in Wilmington.
Columbus is no stranger to white Christmases, and it will likely see them again. Here is a list of the snowiest Christmas days in Columbus, according to NWS data.
The snowiest Christmases in Columbus
The most snow Columbus experienced on a Christmas Day came in the late 19th Century when more than a half-of-a-foot of snow fell in the region. Other record-setting days include:
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1. Christmas 1890, 7 inches of snowfall
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2. Christmas 1909, 5.7 inches of snowfall
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3. Christmas 1950, 3 inches of snowfall
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4. Christmas 1969, 2.3 inches of snowfall
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5. Christmas 1976, 1.9 inches of snowfall
That’s just snow that fell on Christmas day itself. Sometimes, white Christmases occur from snow already on the ground from previous showers. Here are the Columbus Christmases with the most snow on the ground since 1948 when NWS started measuring it.
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1. Christmas 1960, 9 inches of snow
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2. Christmas 1961, 1963, 1989, 1995, 2022 (five-way tie), 4 inches of snow
How often does Columbus have a white Christmas?
NWS defines a white Christmas as having an inch or more of snow on the ground Christmas morning.
Since NWS started doing snow measurements in Columbus in 1948, it has seen only 20 white Christmases, or one 26% of the time, according to NWS data.
In the last 30 years, the region has only seen 10 white Christmases or one 33% of the time. The most recent snowy Christmas Day in Columbus was 2022.
Columbus weather for the week of Dec. 23, 2024
The rest of the week continues to see fairly mild temperatures and some precipitation through central Ohio, and no signs of snow as we head into 2025. Here’s the NWS for the rest of the week:
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Monday: It will be partly sunny with a high near 43. Wind gusts as high as 21 miles per hour are possible.
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Monday Night: Rain will be likely, mainly before 1 a.m. It will be cloudy with a low around 37. Wind gusts as high as 20 miles per hour are possible. The chance of precipitation is 70%. Less than a tenth of an inch of precipitation is expected.
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Tuesday: It will be cloudy with a high near 44.
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Tuesday Night: It will be cloudy with a low around 35.
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Christmas Day: There is a chance of rain. It will be mostly cloudy with a high near 45. The chance of precipitation is 30%. Less than a tenth of an inch of precipitation is expected.
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Wednesday Night: There is a slight chance of rain before 1 a.m. It will be mostly cloudy with a low around 37. The chance of precipitation is 20%.
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Thursday: It will be mostly cloudy with a high near 48.
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Thursday Night: It will be mostly cloudy with a low around 37.
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Friday: It will be mostly cloudy with a high near 53.
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Friday Night: There is a chance of rain after 1 a.m. It will be mostly cloudy with a low around 43. The chance of precipitation is 40%.
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Saturday: There is a chance of rain. It will be mostly cloudy with a high near 56. The chance of precipitation is 40%.
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Saturday Night: There is a chance of rain. It will be mostly cloudy with a low around 48. The chance of precipitation is 50%.
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Sunday: Rain is likely. It will be mostly cloudy with a high near 57. The chance of precipitation is 60%.
NHart@dispatch.com
@NathanRHart
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Will it snow on Christmas? Here are the biggest snowfall totals in Columbus history