Dreaming of a White Christmas

By the time Christmas arrives, there could be snow on the ground in a lot ofplaces from the Intermountain West to the East Coast. Furthermore, there is ashot at a major winter storm affecting the Central part of the country nextWednesday and Thursday, shifting into the East just in time for Christmas.Quite frankly, the pattern that is setting up offers the best chance of a whiteChristmas for many since December 2002.

The absolute best white Christmas I ever experienced occurred in 1966. At thattime, a major storm tracked right up the Eastern Seaboard, dumping heavy snowfrom Virginia to New England on Christmas Eve. The greatest amounts from thestorm were as much as 2 feet from eastern Pennsylvania to the Hudson Valley ofNew York. Surprisingly, a day prior to the storm, most forecasters were sayingthat the worst of the storm would come no farther north than Virginia. InConnecticut, where I lived, there was only mention of some light snow. The nextmorning, I was ecstatic to learn that the storm was coming right up the coast,and that a heavy snow warning had been issued for my area.

Okay, back to Christmas week 2009. Two large weather systems are currentlysetting up a massive roadblock over eastern North America. This will force alarge body of cold air southward into the United States next week. In turn,this could set up a very active storm track from the eastern slopes of theRockies, across the South Central states, then finally into the Eastern part ofthe country. As you well know, cold air to the north and storms to the south isthe ideal setup for snow.

Story By AccuWeather.com Senior Meteorologist John Kocet.