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The race is on for a white Christmas across Kentucky and Southern Indiana

Getting snow on the ground for the holiday may be all about the cold air catching up to the available moisture Christmas Eve morning.

For many folks, a white Christmas would be a positive end to what has been a challenging year to say the least. Naturally not much has been easy in 2020 so it should come as no surprise that getting the desired white Christmas here in Kentuckiana won’t necessarily be a walk in the park. But the good news is, we have a shot but like everything else in life, it is all about timing. 

Credit: WHAS

We got our first indication early last week that our coldest air of the season would arrive just in time for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day and that expectation hasn’t changed now that we are just days away. The $64,000 question since then has been…if it’s going to be that cold, then what about a white Christmas?

Credit: WHAS

The consistent answer continues to be that it is possible. The issue is that the expected deep moisture should move out pretty quickly heading into Christmas Eve morning. As is usually the case, if the cold air can crash in quickly enough, this would be a set-up to lay some light snow on the ground. Temperatures will steadily fall below freezing through Christmas Eve with very cold air into the teens Christmas morning, so getting that light snow on the ground Thursday morning is critical since we’ll dry out through the rest of the holiday.

Credit: WHAS

The model data continues to show moisture around at daybreak Christmas Eve morning with each updated data set, but there is some back and forth with the timing of any potential changeover and how quickly the deep moisture departs. In general, this isn’t the most favorable set-up for snow accumulation, especially with the cold air playing catch-up. The bottom line is that it is rarely cut and dry with this type of scenario, so we’ll continue to crunch the data and hope Mother Nature provides a festive look for the holiday season late this week.

Credit: WHAS

Here’s a look at a few stats relative to a white Christmas here in Louisville over the last 20 years. Happy Holidays and stay with the WHAS11 First Alert StormTeam this week for updates. 

Credit: WHAS

Meteorologist T.G. Shuck

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