Most of us hope for a snowy Christmas, but in a state like Georgia, that’s a rare sight.
A white Christmas hasn’t been seen here since 2010, and it isn’t in the forecast this year.
While snowball fights, snow angels and snowmen will be out of the question, you’ll need some rain boots, raincoats and umbrellas to get through the holidays. That’s because a low-pressure system from the Midwest and moisture from the Gulf of Mexico will bring widespread showers for most of Christmas Day, according to the National Weather Service.
“Well, you’re not going to get a snowman because it’s going to be wet. We’re going to be cool, but not nearly cold enough for the wet stuff to turn into white stuff,” Channel 2 Action News chief meteorologist Brad Nitz said.
Christmas Eve on Sunday might be your best opportunity to go outdoors for any family activities. A mostly cloudy day and a high of 64 degrees are in the forecast.
Then as temperatures begin to dip by the evening, the rain chances increase.
“Scattered to widespread rain showers expected late Sunday through Monday,” the NWS reported, but showers are more likely to strike Atlanta after 1 a.m. Monday, when the chance increases to over 70%.
Rain that begins overnight will continue through Christmas Day, and a few rumbles of thunder are possible, Nitz said. The chance for precipitation in Atlanta increases as the day goes on, with about a 93% chance around 7 a.m. and close to 100% at 2 p.m.
According to the NWS, a low-pressure system starting in the Midwest that will move to the Southern Plains and then into the Southeast will bring rain and thunderstorms to Georgia late Sunday. Showers will continue throughout Monday as moisture from the Gulf also enters the state, the agency explained.
Atlanta and most of Georgia will remain overcast for the holiday, with a high of 60 degrees and a low of 54.
“Way too warm for a white Christmas. It’s unfortunately, I think, going to be a wet Christmas,” Nitz said.
But it’s not the warmest we’ve seen. The hottest Christmas on record was in 2015 when it reached 75 degrees in Atlanta.
Though inconsistencies remain in the forecast past Monday, the NWS predicts that showers will continue into early Wednesday.
In 2010, Christmas Eve began with rain and quickly changed to snow across North Georgia, where 6 to 8 inches was reported following a strong storm system that moved across the Southeast. In Atlanta, just over 1 inch of snow was reported and 2 inches fell in Athens. It was the first white Christmas in metro Atlanta since 1882.
Christmas is also often dry in Atlanta, but in 1945 the city recorded a record high with more than 2 inches of rainfall.
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