White Christmas 2017: Here Are The Chances For NoVa And DC

WASHINGTON, DC – Did the snow last weekend, and the trace overnight, have you dreaming of a white Christmas? Forecasters say the odds of the winter fantasy coming true –are pretty slim in the Washington, D.C. region.

In northern Virginia and The District, the chance of waking up to a Christmas card winter wonderland scene on Dec. 25 is less than 10 percent, according to an interactive map from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association that shows the historical probability for a snow depth of at least one inch of snow.

For better chances of a white Christmas, head to the mountains of West Virginia, Maine, or upstate New York – it's a pretty sure thing in the Adirondacks with 87 percent probability at Lake Placid. And if you really want to travel, it's pretty much a lock that the Colorado Rockies or Sierra Nevada mountains in California with all those ski resorts, will be covered in white powder.

NOAA's map is based on the average temperatures of the past three-decades, precipitation and other climate variables. On the map below, the darkest gray areas show the lowest probability for a white Christmas and the white areas show where the chances are the greatest. Northern Virginia is solidly in the darkest gray range of zero to 10 percent chance of snow.

Accuweather.com's long-range forecast for the Washington, D.C., metro doesn't look good for a white Christmas, either. It looks like the holiday will be brown.

Another storm may quickly track from the Gulf of Mexico to the Northeast around Dec. 22-24, according to AccuWeather Lead Long-Range Meteorologist Paul Pastelok.

“Without any fresh cold, both systems prior to Christmas may only produce snow on their front end in the mid-Atlantic,” Pastelok said. “However, the track of the storms should cause any snow to change over to rain. So, the prospect of a white Christmas is low in Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.”

The Washington Post's Capital Weather Gang agrees, putting the chances of a white Christmas in the region at 10 to 15 percent.

"There are some signs emerging that the weather pattern, which is forecast to thaw early next week, may turn cold again around after Dec. 22. If this happens, our odds for snow on or before Christmas could tick up some," the Weather Gang says.

Another blast of Arctic air that will move toward the Mid-Atlantic could encounter high pressure off the coast of the southeast United States which may try to send milder air into the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic at the same time. The odds for snow at Christmas would increase if the cold air pushes into the region.

The last time DC had a white Christmas, defined by the National Weather Service as a minimum of 1 inch of snow cover, was 2009, The Post says.

Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images News/Getty Images; maps from the National Weather Service and Accuweather