Will 2017 See A White Christmas? Perhaps Not...
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Those dreaming of a White Christmas in the Chicago area may be disappointed this year.
AccuWeather Meteorologist John Gresiak said there is a good deal of cold air moving in for the holiday weekend.
"It does look like we are going to have some flurries on Sunday, maybe a small accumulation," he said.
Gresiak said the cold temperatures could keep that coating around for Christmas day, so whether it will truly be a white Christmas depends on who you ask.
"For some people it needs to actually snow on Christmas Day and accumulate for that to qualify as a white Christmas; for other people as long as there is snow on the ground," he said.
The National Weather Service defines a white Christmas as a Dec. 25 with an inch or more of snow on the ground. The last time that happened in the Chicago area was last year.
"There was about two inches of snow on the ground for Christmas in 2016," Gresiak said.
Gresiak said parts of central and southern Illinois have the lowest chance of seeing Dec. 25 snowfall, but stranger things have happened.
"It really depends on the atmospheric patterns of that particular year, but on average, chances are higher in the north than in the south," he said.
