While most of US to be dry, a 'white Christmas' is forecast for some mountain regions
Most of the United States will see a dry holiday with above-average temperatures this year, while some mountain regions might see some snow.
The places most likely to see a "white Christmas" are the Colorado Rocky Mountains and the Cascades in Washington, according to the National Weather Service.
While no snow is forecast for the North on Christmas Day, places like North Dakota, northern Minnesota, Wisconsin and northern Michigan could still meet the NWS's definition of a "white Christmas" due to the accumulation of the snow still on the ground.
The NWS defines a "white Christmas" as at least an inch of snow on the ground at 7 a.m. local time on Christmas morning.
The Northeast coast and from West Virginia to Maine in the eastern U.S. are expected to miss out on a snowy Christmas, as well as the I-95 corridor from Washington, D.C., to New York and Boston. But a dusting of snow in the Northeast could materialize on Christmas Eve.
Heavy flakes could also fall in Maine on Christmas Eve, when Bangor is forecast to get between 3 to 6 inches of snow.
Meanwhile, a storm forecast for the Pacific Northwest, the latest in an ongoing series of storms, is expected to bring rain, except for in the Cascades.
On Wednesday, rain showers are also possible from Chicago to New Orleans, where temperatures are expected to be above average.
Temperatures across much of the nation on Christmas are, for the most part, forecast to be 5 to 15 degrees above average for the West, Midwest and South.
Along the East Coast, temperatures are expected to be slightly below the seasonal average for the Northeast on Christmas Day.
This week, however, an Artic blast that began on Sunday is expected to spill into Monday, bringing bone-chilling temperatures across the North and Northeast.
A cold weather advisory was in effect for parts of the Northeast on Sunday morning, where wind chills were making it feel like 20 below zero in northeast Pennsylvania, upstate New York and western Massachusetts. The wind chill could make it feel like 25 below zero in northwest Maine.
On Monday morning, the wind-chill effect will make it feel like below zero in the Northeast from upstate New York to Maine. Monday's wind chill will make it feel as cold as 10 degrees from Washington, D.C., to New York City, and in the single digits in Boston.
In the West and Southeast, a stretch of balmy weather is expected to remain through Christmas Day, with a high of 64 forecast for Los Angeles, 71 in Phoenix, 73 in New Orleans and 78 in Miami.
