I’m dreaming of a white…Thanksgiving?
It doesn't sound quite like a white Christmas, but believe it or not, in some parts of the United States, there's actually a pretty good chance of snow every Thanksgiving.
Dr. Brian Brettschneideran Alaska-based climatologist, compiled data found in. map belowwhich shows the historical probability of a white Thanksgiving.
To qualify for a white Thanksgiving, there must be at least 1 inch of snow on the ground on Thanksgiving morning, or at least 0.1 inch of snow that fell during the holiday.
This is the same criteria the National Weather Service uses to define a white Christmas.
This map is based on historical weather data averaged over many years.
Brettschneider noted that snow observations must go back at least 40 years for a location to be included in this analysis.
In the Lower 48, the northern and central Rockies have the highest chance of experiencing snow on Thanksgiving, with a 50% to 70% chance for the highest peaks west of Denver and a 70% to 90 chance for Yellowstone National Park in the northwest. % probability. Wyoming and southwestern Montana.
In Yellowstone's highest elevations, the chance of a white Thanksgiving is 90% to 100%.
Most of the northern tier of the United States, From northern Washington to northern New England, there's a 30% to 50% chance of snow on Turkey Day. The chance is 50% to 70% in northeastern North Dakota, northern Minnesota, northern Wisconsin, and parts of Michigan's Upper Peninsula.
Brettschneider said the odds are even higher in western Michigan UP, between 70% and 90%.
In the highest parts of the Adirondack Mountains in northern Maine, northern New Hampshire, northern Vermont and northern New York, the chance of a daylight Thanksgiving is 50% to 70%.
However, in most of the Northeast and Midwest, the chance of snow on Turkey Day each year is only 10% to 30%.
Further south in the mid-Atlantic, Ohio Valley, mid-Mississippi Valley, and Central Plains regions, the chance of a snowy Turkey day is less than 10%.
Most people in the South have never witnessed a white Thanksgiving, but in southern regions like the Texas Panhandle and the southern half of New Mexico, the odds are between 1% and 5%.
If you really want to wear snow boots while eating turkey, head to Alaska or northern Canada. There, the chance of a white Thanksgiving in many areas is 90 to 100 percent.
