The question is inevitably asked every year... "will we see a white Christmas this year?". The cold, hard truth is, the answer is almost certainly not. Climatology suggests the odds of seeing snow on the ground in Christmas Day is near zero percent across all of Alabama.
If you want snow on Christmas Day, your best bets in the US are Alaska, Minnesota, Maine, Upstate New York, the Allegheny Mountains of Pennsylvania and West Virginia Idaho, and of course, the Rockies or the Sierra Nevada Mountains. As far Central Alabama is concerned, the chances are next to zero historically.
Birmingham has never officially reported measurable snow on the ground on Christmas day. We've certainly come close though! In 2010, snow fell across North and Central Alabama on Christmas, and many spots got some snow to stick. That just wasn't the case at the airport where the climate record is kept. The Urban Heat Island effect kept it warmer around the city, and that led to the city, at least, to miss out on measurable snowfall. For many outside Birmingham city limits, it was a special, and incredibly rare, Alabama white Christmas.
Trace amounts of snow were also recorded in Birmingham on Christmas in 1993, 1989, and 1899. In 1929, 5.5 inches of snow fell at the city office in Birmingham on December 22, with 2.5 inches left Christmas Eve, but it melted before measurement was taken Christmas Day. Close, but no cigar.
Anniston had measurable snow on Christmas Day 2010, recording an inch at the airport. Trace amounts of snow were recorded in Anniston in 1993,1989, and 1970.
Tuscaloosa has only reported trace amounts of snow once on Christmas Day, during the 2010 event.
So what about this year? I cannot technically say with absolute certainty that it won't snow on Christmas in Alabama. There's no way to make that kind of prediction with certainty a full month out.
I'd say you've got a better chance of Jim Carrey showing up to your house on Christmas Day dressed as Lloyd Christmas from Dumb and Dumber than you do seeing snow on the ground on Christmas Day. While it's not technically outside the realm of possibility, the odds are very, very strongly against it. But for snow lovers in Alabama, keep up with the forecast and don't lose all hope. You never know when a Christmas miracle might be around the corner.
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