# Is There A Place In The USA Where It Only Snows Around Christmas? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 25, 2009, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-place-in-the-usa-where-it-only-snows-around-christmas/522500 "2009-12-25T00:08:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2009, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-place-in-the-usa-where-it-only-snows-around-christmas/522500/1 "2009-12-25T00:08:38Z")
In sitcoms it only seems to snow around the Christmas episodes. How convenient huh? From _the Mary Tyler Moore Show_ > [@](#): > > Mary) That’s what I love about Minneapolis, you always have a white Christmas > > Rhoda) It’s these white Easters that get me Anyway I was wondering is there a place in the the USA where the area gets snow but only around the end of December or beginning of January. Then it gets warm again? I lived in Nashville one year but it didn’t snow at all that winter. Well it did but it was very light and didn’t last 24 hours, but maybe that winter was just warm? Any ideas? ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2009, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-place-in-the-usa-where-it-only-snows-around-christmas/522500/2 "2009-12-27T04:27:02Z")
I can’t answer your question, but I can point out that our first snowfall this year fell on Christmas Day. Unfortunately, it also came with ice the night before which made the trip to my grandfather’s a bit tricky. ---
**Author:** ![Covered\_In\_Bees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ab992/32.png) [@Covered\_In\_Bees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Covered_In_Bees)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2009, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-place-in-the-usa-where-it-only-snows-around-christmas/522500/3 "2009-12-27T04:29:59Z")
Certain parts of Southern New Mexico and very Western Texas only get snow on or around Christmas. Christmas day and a few days before and after are frequently markedly colder than other days which can easily result in snow only on Christmas. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2009, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-place-in-the-usa-where-it-only-snows-around-christmas/522500/4 "2009-12-27T04:58:25Z")
> [@Covered\_In\_Bees](#): > > Certain parts of Southern New Mexico and very Western Texas only get snow on or around Christmas. Christmas day and a few days before and after are frequently markedly colder than other days which can easily result in snow only on Christmas. The only response to that is: “Cite?” ---
**Author:** ![Covered\_In\_Bees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ab992/32.png) [@Covered\_In\_Bees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Covered_In_Bees)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2009, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-place-in-the-usa-where-it-only-snows-around-christmas/522500/5 "2009-12-27T05:07:32Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > The only response to that is: “Cite?” How in the world am I supposed to provide a citation for that? Did I wander into GD or something? 😕 **BigT** better cough up a cite too if I have to. ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2009, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-place-in-the-usa-where-it-only-snows-around-christmas/522500/6 "2009-12-27T05:10:43Z")
Mary Tyler Moor featured snow often–it “took place” in Minneapolis, ferchrissake. Bob Newhart also featured snow often, as did Newhart, Hogan’s Heroes, and others. There is no place in USA where it only snows around Xmas–where on Earth would such a place be? Temperature changes occur over time, those things we call seasons, which typically last longer than say, Epiphany. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2009, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-place-in-the-usa-where-it-only-snows-around-christmas/522500/7 "2009-12-27T05:38:54Z")
And the coldest temperatures tend to be in late January, not December. Of course, coldest temperature doesn’t necessarily mean greatest snowfall. ---
**Author:** ![jasonh300](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/46a35a/32.png) [@jasonh300](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasonh300)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2009, 8:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-place-in-the-usa-where-it-only-snows-around-christmas/522500/8 "2009-12-27T08:36:13Z")
Don’t forget, winter doesn’t start until December 21 and ends on March 21, so why would it only snow on the first few days of the coldest 3 months of the year? ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2009, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-place-in-the-usa-where-it-only-snows-around-christmas/522500/9 "2009-12-27T13:11:27Z")
I don’t think there is anyplace where it will only snow around Christmas and not occasionally have rain, sleet, snow, fog, or sun sometimes. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2009, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-place-in-the-usa-where-it-only-snows-around-christmas/522500/10 "2009-12-27T15:10:48Z")
> [@Covered\_In\_Bees](#): > > How in the world am I supposed to provide a citation for that? Did I wander into GD or something? 😕 > > **BigT** better cough up a cite too if I have to. Well, your statement is so definitive (and so absurd), that it just cries for some substantiation. I mean, I could claim that Scottsdale only gets snow from 2:30 to 2:51 PM on Christmas day, but that doesn’t make it factual (or believable). As far as your statement goes, here is a monthly [temperature](http://countrystudies.us/united-states/weather/new-mexico/las-cruces.htm) chart of Las Cruces. You will notice that January is just slightly colder than December. I think if you do the research, you will find that this is almost always true for the entire US. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2009, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-place-in-the-usa-where-it-only-snows-around-christmas/522500/11 "2009-12-27T19:03:17Z")
Well I realize that there’s no right or wrong to this question, and basically if you were having a sitcom set in an area where it would be likely to snow starting around December 24th and then maybe have snow or cold weather for a month then warm up. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2009, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-place-in-the-usa-where-it-only-snows-around-christmas/522500/12 "2009-12-27T19:40:29Z")
> [@Markxxx](#): > > Well I realize that there’s no right or wrong to this question, and basically if you were having a sitcom set in an area where it would be likely to snow starting around December 24th and then maybe have snow or cold weather for a month then warm up. That’s called winter. ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2009, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-place-in-the-usa-where-it-only-snows-around-christmas/522500/13 "2009-12-27T19:49:13Z")
> [@Markxxx](#): > > Well I realize that there’s no right or wrong to this question, and basically if you were having a sitcom set in an area where it would be likely to snow starting around December 24th and then maybe have snow or cold weather for a month then warm up. That place is known as “Hollywood sound stage” and has nothing to do with reality. Reality is demonstrated in temperate climes as 4 seasons per year, one of them involving hibernation, cold temps (including frost and subzero), precipitation from the sky commonly referred to as snow (or “more fucking snow”), and fewer hours of daylight. I hope this helps you. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2009, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-place-in-the-usa-where-it-only-snows-around-christmas/522500/14 "2009-12-27T21:53:42Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > Well, your statement is so definitive (and so absurd), that it just cries for some substantiation. I mean, I could claim that Scottsdale only gets snow from 2:30 to 2:51 PM on Christmas day, but that doesn’t make it factual (or believable). > > As far as your statement goes, here is a monthly [temperature](http://countrystudies.us/united-states/weather/new-mexico/las-cruces.htm) chart of Las Cruces. You will notice that January is just slightly colder than December. I think if you do the research, you will find that this is almost always true for the entire US. How does this NOT fit into the parameters of the OP? The OP asked if there was a place where it was cold in late December/early January, and then started warming up. That’s pretty much what your chart shows. Anecdotally, a friend recently told me that December is the coldest month in the part of the Bay Area where she lives. Granted, this being the Bay area, they don’t get snow, they get maybe a frost. But in the surrounding hills, they do get snow, so I think that also satisfies the parameters of the OP. Here’s a [chart](http://www.weather.com/weather/wxclimatology/monthly/graph/95112) that backs up the assertion – the average coldest month in San Jose, CA is December. Of the six occasions when San Francisco has received an inch or more of snow, [four of them were in December or early January.](http://thestormking.com/Sierra_Stories/San_Francisco_Snowstorms/san_francisco_snowstorms.html) The most recent example was December 11, 1932.. So I think San Francisco might (barely) satisfy the criteria of the OP, although if you want a white Xmas, you’re going to have to be prepared to wait a while for it. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2009, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-place-in-the-usa-where-it-only-snows-around-christmas/522500/15 "2009-12-27T21:53:45Z")
wrong thread ---
**Author:** ![Covered\_In\_Bees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ab992/32.png) [@Covered\_In\_Bees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Covered_In_Bees)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2009, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-place-in-the-usa-where-it-only-snows-around-christmas/522500/16 "2009-12-27T22:10:21Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > Well, your statement is so definitive (and so absurd), that it just cries for some substantiation. I mean, I could claim that Scottsdale only gets snow from 2:30 to 2:51 PM on Christmas day, but that doesn’t make it factual (or believable). > > As far as your statement goes, here is a monthly [temperature](http://countrystudies.us/united-states/weather/new-mexico/las-cruces.htm) chart of Las Cruces. You will notice that January is just slightly colder than December. I think if you do the research, you will find that this is almost always true for the entire US. Okay. So? Colder doesn’t automatically mean “OMG it’s cold, therefore we get snow!” ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2009, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-place-in-the-usa-where-it-only-snows-around-christmas/522500/17 "2009-12-27T22:11:44Z")
> [@Covered\_In\_Bees](#): > > Okay. So? Colder doesn’t automatically mean “OMG it’s cold, therefore we get snow!” Please, carefully read the post I was responding to. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2009, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-place-in-the-usa-where-it-only-snows-around-christmas/522500/18 "2009-12-27T22:19:51Z")
> [@Markxxx](#): > > wrong thread Cite? This IS mpsims you know … 😛