North Platte Christmas Day Climatology

Christmas Day is observed nationally on December 25 and observations have been recorded in North Platte on Christmas Day since 1874. Snow depth at the beginning of records is not available, for this study snow depth information is used dating back to 1880. Included below is information about a White Christmas in North Platte, which has happened twice in the last 10 years, and that was in 2006 and 2009. In 2007, there was a light blanket of snow at observation time, but the snow depth was less than 1/2 an inch at the airport, which by definition is only a trace and not typically considered a "White Christmas".

CHRISTMAS DAY IN NORTH PLATTE
PERIOD OF RECORD 138 YEARS: 1874-2011

TEMPERATURE DATA

Highest 65 degrees (1999)
Lowest -25 degrees (1879)
Lowest Maximum 3 degrees (1983)
Highest Minimum 31 degrees (2 times)
(1942 & 1959)
Average High 37.7 degrees
Average Low 12.3 degrees
30 year Normal High 38 degrees
30 year Normal Low 11 degrees
Average Temperature Range 25.5 degrees
Largest Range
between High and Low		 51 degrees
High 26, Low -25 (1879)
Smallest Range
between High and Low		 3 degrees (3 times)
High 15, Low 12 (1966)
High 26, Low 23 (1941)
High 19, Low 16 (1888)

High Temperature by 10 Degree Ranges

0s 10s 20s 30s 40s 50s 60s
3 14 24 31 32 28 6
2.2% 10.1% 17.4% 22.5% 23.2% 20.3% 4.3%

Low Temperature by 10 Degree Ranges

-20s -10s -0s 0s 10s 20s 30s
1 4 13 34 48 35 3
0.7% 2.9% 9.4% 24.6% 34.8% 25.4% 2.2%

PRECIPITATION DATA

Maximum Precipitation 0.19 inches (1941)
Maximum Snowfall 4.0 inches (1888)
Number of Times Precipitation 40 Occurrences or 29.0%
Number of Times
Measurable Precipitation
(more than a Trace)		 18 Occurrences or 13.0%
Number of Times Snowfall 37 Occurrences or 26.8%
Number of Times
Measurable Snowfall
(more than a Trace)		 18 Occurrences or 13.0%
Number of Times No Precipitation 98 Occurrences or 71.0%
Most Snow on Ground
at Observation Time		 8 inches (1973)

WHITE CHRISTMAS IN NORTH PLATTE
PERIOD OF RECORD 132 YEARS: 1880-2011
White Christmas = 1 inch or more of snow on ground
at observation time on December 25
(snow depth rounded to nearest whole inch or trace if 0.4 inches or less)

Number of Years with a
White Christmas (132 years)		 35 Years (26.5%)
Number of Years with a
White Christmas (last 25 years)		 3 Years (12%)
Number of Years with a
White Christmas (last 10 years)		 2 Years (20.0%)
2006 - 3 inches
2009 - 3 inches
Number of Years with trace or
more snow on Ground (132 years)		 57 Years (43.2%)
Number of Years with trace or
more snow on Ground (last 25 years)		 10 Years (40.0%)
Number of Years with trace or
more snow on Ground (last 10 years)		 3 Years (30.0%)
Consecutive Years with a
White Christmas		 4 Years (twice)
(1982 - 1985)
(1913 - 1916)
Consecutive Years without a
White Christmas		 13 Years (1926 - 1938)
11 Years (1986 - 1996)
Current Streak Consecutive Years
Not White Christmas		 2 Year

White Christmas Occurences by Decade
* incomplete decade

1880s 1890s 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s
1 3 2 6 4 1 4
1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s
1 4 2 4 1 2 0*

DAILY WEATHER SUMMARIES PAST 5 CHRISTMAS DAYS

Date High Low Precip Snow Snow Depth Remarks
2007 35 18 0.12 1.3 T  Cloudy and breezy, light snow most
 of the day (peak gust 30 mph)
2008 38 7 0.00 0.0 0  Mostly sunny
2009 15 3 0.07 1.8 3  Cloudy, light snow all day, windy
 (peak gust 53 mph)
2010 33 10 0.00 0.0 0  Cloudy, mostly clear evening
2011 51 13 0.00 0.0 0  Sunny

YEAR BY YEAR WEATHER FOR PAST CHRISTMAS DAYS
CLICK ON GRAPH FOR LARGER IMAGE

Temperatures - High & Low with Averages

Precipitation

Snowfall

Snowdepth

ALSO VISIT VALENTINE CHRISTMAS CLIMATOLOGY

For more holiday climate studies see the main menu
Holiday Climate Studies for North Platte and Valentine

  Page composition by
Matthew Masek
Updated 2011		  
USA.gov is the U.S. government's official web portal to all federal, state and local government web resources and services.