National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office

THE JACKSON WEATHER OFFICE STARTED KEEPING CLIMATE RECORDS ON JANUARY 1, 1981.  THIS MEANS THAT 31 CHRISTMAS DAYS HAVE COME AND GONE.  LET’S TAKE A LOOK AT THE HISTORY OF WEATHER FOR DECEMBER 25^TH.

THE COLDEST CHRISTMAS DAY OCCURRED IN 1983, WHEN THE MERCURY DROPPED TO 12 DEGREES BELOW ZERO. THIS WAS THE ONLY CHRISTMAS WHEN SUB ZERO READINGS WERE RECORDED AT THE JACKSON WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE.  IN FACT, THE HIGH TEMPERATURE ONLY REACHED 6 DEGREES THAT DAY, WHICH IS THE COLDEST HIGH TEMPERATURE FOR DECEMBER 25^TH.

IN CONTRAST, THE WARMEST CHRISTMAS DAY HAPPENED ON THE PREVIOUS YEAR, 1982.  THE TEMPERATURE SOARED TO 76 DEGREES.  THE LOW READING WAS ONLY 59 DEGREES THAT DAY, WHICH IS THE WARMEST MINIMUM TEMPERATURE FOR CHRISTMAS DAY.

THE SNOWIEST CHRISTMAS WAS BACK IN 1993, WHEN 3.6 INCHES OF SNOW BLANKETED THE GROUND. THERE WERE ALSO 4 OTHER CHRISTMAS OCCURRENCES WHEN OVER AN INCH OF SNOW FELL, 2.1 INCHES IN 1995, 1.5 INCHES IN 2002, 1.4 INCHES IN 1992, AND 1.3 INCHES IN 2010.  ELEVEN CHRISTMAS DAYS SAW AT LEAST A TRACE OF SNOWFALL OVER THE LAST 31 YEARS.

THE GREATEST CHRISTMAS MORNING SNOW DEPTH WAS 2 INCHES, AND HAPPENED IN 1985 AND 1989. THERE WAS ALSO 4 CHRISTMAS MORNINGS THAT HAD A SNOW DEPTH OF 1 INCH, 1993, 1995, 1998, AND 2010.  IN TOTAL, AT LEAST A TRACE OF SNOW WAS ON THE GROUND FOR 13 OF THE LAST 31 CHRISTMAS MORNINGS.

THE WETTEST CHRISTMAS HAPPENED IN 1987, WHEN 1.93 INCHES OF RAIN WAS RECEIVED AT THE JACKSON WEATHER OFFICE. THERE HAVE BEEN 7 TOTAL CHRISTMAS DAYS WHEN PRECIPITATION FELL AS JUST RAIN BETWEEN 1981 AND 2011 BECAUSE TEMPERATURES WERE TOO WARM. IN TOTAL, 18 OF THE LAST 31 CHRISTMAS DAYS HAVE SEEN SOME TYPE OF PRECIPITATION.

MISCELLANEOUS CHRISTMAS WEATHER INFORMATION: THERE HAVE BEEN 24 CHRISTMAS DAYS WHEN THE MERCURY WAS EQUAL TO OR DROPPED BELOW THE FREEZING MARK. THERE WERE ALSO 11 DAYS WHEN THE HIGH TEMPERATURE WAS 32 DEGREES OR BELOW.  FIFTEEN CHRISTMAS DAYS AVERAGED 32 DEGREES OR LESS.  OVER THE LAST 31 CHRISTMAS DAYS, 13 HAVE BEEN DRY.

 

YEAR	HIGH	LOW	PRECIPITATION	SNOWFALL	7 AM SNOW DEPTH
1981	44	30	0.00	0.0	0
1982	76	59	0.17	0.0	0
1983	6	-12	T	T	T
1984	45	24	T	0.0	0
1985	17	5	0.02	0.2	2
1986	41	34	0.01	0.0	0
1987	59	48	1.93	0.0	0
1988	47	32	0.00	0.0	0
1989	24	16	0.02	0.1	2
1990	31	11	T	T	T
1991	45	25	0.00	0.0	0
1992	37	19	0.06	1.4	0
1993	31	14	0.17	3.6	1
1994	46	31	0.00	0.0	0
1995	27	22	0.06	2.1	1
1996	33	19	0.00	0.0	0
1997	54	37	0.09	0.0	0
1998	33	17	0.00	0.0	1
1999	27	10	0.00	0.0	T
2000	23	7	0.00	0.0	T
2001	31	19	0.00	0.0	0
2002	42	26	0.28	1.5	T
2003	32	25	0.02	0.4	T
2004	33	14	0.00	0.0	T
2005	48	34	0.49	T	0
2006	50	38	0.25	0.0	0
2007	47	30	0.00	0.0	0
2008	44	30	0.00	0.0	0
2009	58	34	0.15	0.0	0
2010	28	23	0.09	1.3	1
2011	53	30	0.00	0.0	0