Santa Claus is Coming to Town and Bringing Arctic Air, Little Snow

It’s Christmas week and as holiday plans may look a little different this year, Mike Hoffman says it’s unlikely the U.S. will see a widespread white Christmas. He says the chance for some areas to see snow is there, especially with forecasts pointing to a burst of cold air covering much of the country for Christmas.

“I will tell you that some areas, with a shot of arctic air coming in, may be getting a white Christmas at the last second,” says Mike Hoffman, U.S. Farm Report meteorologist. “If you can keep the snow in East after the latest storm, you might still keep a white Christmas, as well, since there was so much of it.”

Hoffman says that snow covered an area of the country that needed the moisture. The latest rootzone moisture map showed the Northeast was getting dry.

“As we start things off this week, we do have a rain and snow system kind of moving through the Great Lakes and in the northeast of the next couple of days," says Hoffman. “Then, there's a shot of arctic air coming. It begins on Wednesday in the Northern Rockies, and that comes slamming in and it goes way south as you head through Christmas day. Then it all flattens out. “

Hoffman expects the artic air to be widespread this week, but not last long. His forecast shows the cold blast sticking around for two or three days, then the zonal flows will get back to more normal patterns.

“The real frigid air is going to be in the Great Lakes northward but it's going to be cold all the way south," he says. "THere's not a lot of precipitation, though, from coast to coast."

Hoffman’s 30-day forecast shows temperatures will push back toward the above normal mark, with below normal precipitation continuing for the South and West.