ST. GEORGE — For those dreaming of a white Christmas this year below the mountains in Southern Utah, it’s going to remain a dream.
According to the National Weather Service, there is no area of Southern Utah other than the mountain areas that will experience a white Christmas on Sunday.
The area may actually be lucking out compared to other areas of the nation, which are seeing what has been termed a once-in-100-years “bomb cyclone” for the holiday. In Denver and parts of Wyoming, the temperature has dropped as much as 70 degrees in the last day. The winter storm is hampering holiday travel by forcing the cancellation of thousands of flights Friday making it crucial for travelers to keep up to speed with the status of their flights before going to the airport.
But in Southern Utah, Darren Van Cleave, meteorologist in charge at the National Weather Service’s Salt Lake City office, told St. George News it will actually be a warmer Christmas, rather than a white Christmas.
“Regarding the forecast for this Christmas, it looks to be dry and somewhat mild with temperatures 5 to 10 degrees above normal for this time of year,” Van Cleave said, adding that it might actually be a white couple of days after Christmas as snow is forecasted as a possibility for midweek next week in Iron County and higher elevations. “The next chance of active weather is early next week.”
The weather service defines a white Christmas as “snow falling or one inch of snow on the ground on the morning of Dec. 25.”
While there might be some shady areas of backyards in places like Cedar City that will retain more than an inch of recent snowfall, there will not be the landscape all in white that provokes the visions of sleighs, snowplows and snowmen. This is a contrast to the last four years when places like Parowan were covered in a sheet of white on Christmas.
The best bet to get a white Christmas will be in the mountains, with the self-touted “greatest snow” in places like Brian Head.
Further south, while St. George does see the occasional snowfall, the weather service says there has not been a white Christmas there in the last 70 years and no letter to Santa will change that this year.
The Christmas Day forecast in St. George is a sunny day with a high of 58 and a low of 35. Cedar City also is expected to be sunny but chillier with a high of 44 and a below-freezing low of 24.
As for those going out of town for the holiday, there’s no where south of 36 degrees longitude that will see a white Christmas. But above that, there are some places not only seeing a white Christmas but also a dangerous one.
Governors in 12 states have already declared a state of emergency because of the bomb cyclone, with Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine warning residents of “flash-freezing” conditions that could cause frostbite and even be lethal if outside too long.
According to the National Weather Service, the warmer-than-usual weather down south is actually playing a role in what is happening up north.
They say a bomb cyclone happens when atmospheric pressure drops significantly because of warm and cold air masses overlapping. That is what is happening now with the warmer air south colliding with a blast of air coming down from the arctic in the northern U.S.
For those able to get past the air cancellations and other travel delays, the best bets for a white Christmas this year are in places like Lake Tahoe, California, the Montana-Idaho-Wyoming tri-states, Kansas City, the Dakotas, Chicago, Minneapolis and Ohio’s major cities.
Closer to home, there’s also Salt Lake City. While Utah’s capitol isn’t seeing significant snowfall in the next three days, there should still be enough snow on the ground for a sleigh ride.
Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2022, all rights reserved.