Oklahoma Could See a White Christmas This Year
As the song goes, "I'm dreaming of white Christmas," is truly sung as a nostalgic dream for Oklahomans. But this year's weather pattern is looking to bring in a chilly and wet holiday season, so the white Christmas dream sung by Bing Crosby could actually be a reality for Oklahomans this year.
The last big blizzard Oklahoma had was on Dec. 24, 2009, and it shut down various parts of the state on Christmas Day. Snow accumulated anywhere from one to 14 inches across the state during Christmas Eve and Christmas Day that year. Below is map from the National Weather Service in Norman's report of that blizzard.
The blizzard of 2009 was the last white Christmas in Oklahoma.
Since 2009, Oklahoma has not seen a white Christmas. We have had our fair share of ice storms and snow accumulations since then, but nothing compared to that of the blizzard during Christmas of 2009. Before that, Oklahoma City had only seen 17 white Christmases since 1913, but 2009 was by far the whitest with huge amounts of snow. Other white Christmases just had small amounts, but I'm betting Oklahomans still cleared store shelves of milk and bread.
Will this year's El Nino bring a white Christmas to Oklahoma?
The National Weather Service in Norman recently posted on its Facebook page that it is possible for this year's El Nino to bring a bigger chance of a white Christmas to Oklahoma. (It's important to note that 2009 was an El Nino year.)
According to the National Weather Service in Norman, this year's El Nino is pretty much guaranteed to last through the winter, which means this holiday season will be wetter than normal. So it is possible that there could be a white Christmas in Oklahoma this year, plus other winter weather events before we bid 2023 adieu. We'll just have to wait till closer to Christmas to find out for sure!
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