News - Blogs - White Christmas in Tulsa or Oklahoma

White Christmas in Tulsa or Oklahoma?
Published: 12/23/2011 10:47 AM
Last Modified: 12/23/2011 10:47 AM

You're a mean one, grinch map. This National Weather Service map shows the probability of Tulsa and the rest of the southern United States receiving a White Christmas is less than 5 percent.

I stepped out of a Cherry Street restaurant last night and there were unmistakable snowflakes falling around me.

True, they were so tiny that you could only see them if you were next to street lights or parked cars had their headlights on, but it was honest to goodness snow. In Tulsa. And not so much that roads were impassable. Merry Christmas!

Alas, none of it stuck around for Christmas. Tulsans apparently dream of a White Christmas so much that they have a National Weather Service page dedicated to it. You can view it here.

As you can see, it is a very rare occurrence. 2009 was one of the exceptions, having 0.4 of an inch of snow, along with 6 inches already on the ground. We received trace amounts last Christmas.

Alas, Christmas Day, Sunday, Dec. 25, looks to be a sunny day in the 50s... but Christmas night, ho ho ho! We have a 20 percent chance of rain and snow... after midnight.

Now, for all of you saying "that doesn't count!" please let me argue with you for a minute. All of those years of exclaiming "five golden rings!" and you've forgotten there's 12 days of Christmas and Dec. 25 is merely the first day?

Thus, Tulsa's second day of Christmas, Monday, Dec. 26 might get snow. Don't expect it to stick around though, as Monday's high is in the upper 40s.

Now, what about the rest of Oklahoma? Let's first give an update on the Panhandle post-blizzard situation. Looking at Beaver City, Guymon and Beaver, none of these areas have snow forecast for Sunday. However, you should also take into account that these areas just received 6 to 15 inches of snow on Monday-Tuesday and have had temperatures in the mid to lower 30s the past few days. They still have snow on the ground and they likely still will come Christmas Day.

But... there is a chance of snow elsewhere in the state if you look to the central to southwest region. Check out this map:

Areas like Altus and Ada are looking at a 30 percent chance of rain and snow on Christmas Day (the actual one, Sunday, Dec. 25, yes). However, as the map states, this snow is not likely to stick around.

If it makes you all feel any better, I spoke to my grandparents from northeast Wisconsin last night, who said they are going to have a green Christmas as well, as all of their snow is gone.

How about that... there's more snow on the ground in parts of Oklahoma than in an area that I hardly recall there ever not being snow around by this time of year.

Merry (green) Christmas!

--Althea Peterson

PS: Traveling by air this holiday season? Check out my turbulence forecasting blog here.

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Almanac

Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun
Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec

	Temperature		Precipitation
Date	High Temp	Low Temp	Total	Month to date	Historical average
1	44°	16°	0	0.00	0.05
2	59°	24°	0	0.00	0.11
3	57°	33°	0	0.00	0.16
4	68°	37°	Trace	0.00	0.21
5	69°	29°	0	0.00	0.26
6	66°	33°	0	0.00	0.32
7	59°	38°	0.05	0.05	0.38
8	51°	34°	0	0.05	0.44
9	44°	36°	0.01	0.06	0.51
10	62°	37°	0.07	0.13	0.57
11	54°	28°	0	0.13	0.64
12	44°	30°	0.25	0.38	0.70
13	55°	40°	0.01	0.39	0.76
14	°	°			0.83
15	°	°			0.89
16	°	°			0.95
17	°	°			1.02
18	°	°			1.09
19	°	°			1.16
20	°	°			1.23
21	°	°			1.31
22	°	°			1.38
23	°	°			1.46
24	°	°			1.53
25	°	°			1.61
26	°	°			1.69
27	°	°			1.77
28	°	°			1.85

TEMPERATURE

RAINFALL

SNOWFALL

Weather World

Follow Jerry Wofford on Twitter for updates during severe weather conditions.

Tulsa weather milestones of 2013 (as of Feb. 12)

Highest temperature: 70 on Jan. 11 (Record: 115 on Aug. 15, 1936)
Lowest temperature: 15 on Jan. 16 (Record: Minus-16 on Jan. 22, 1930)
Hottest month (average): 40.5 degrees in January (Record: 91.7 degrees on July 1980)
Coldest month (average): 40. 5 degrees in January (Record: 21.7 in January 1918)
Most snowfall (day): 0.1 of an inch on Feb. 12(Record: 13.2 inches on Feb. 1, 2011)
Most snowfall (month): 0.1 of an inch in February(Record: 22.5 inches in February 2011)
Most rainfall (day): 0.91 of an inch on Jan. 29 (Record: 9.27 inches on May 26-27, 1984)
Most rainfall (month): 1.54 of an inch in January (Record: 18.18 inches on September 1971)
Highest wind speed: 30 mph on Jan. 30
Previous day with any rain: Feb. 12
Previous day with 1 inch or more of rain: Oct. 17, 2012
Previous day with any snow: Feb. 12
Previous day with freezing temperatures: Feb. 12
Read regular updates on Oklahoma's unpredictable weather and learn more about meteorology from the Tulsa office of the National Weather Service.

>> Visit the main weather page
>> Send us your weather photos
>> Meet the forecasters

Contributors
Staff Writer Althea Peterson started writing for the Tulsa World in March 2007 after previous stops at the Norman Transcript in 2006 and the Oklahoma Gazette in 2005. She followed her older brother from rural Wisconsin (with a public school that never seemed to call snow days) to the University of Oklahoma, but did not follow his pursuit to study meteorology. However, she tries to find as many opportunities to report on the weather as possible.

Staff Writer Jerry Wofford came to the Tulsa World in 2010 from The Manhattan Mercury in Manhattan, Kan. Originally from western Arkansas and a graduate of the University of Oklahoma, Jerry has lived in Tornado Alley his entire life and is one of those people who goes outside when the sirens go off.

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