Holiday Snow Forecast Reveals Which Lucky Homeowners Will Wake Up to a White Christmas This Year

November is in full swing, and if you’re starting to map out your holiday travel and winter maintenance game plan ahead of December, The Old Farmer’s Almanac has released its annual snowfall forecast for Christmas Day.

While it’s a long-held tradition to hold out hope for a “white” Christmas, this year might not see as many flurries as in years past. 

It really depends on where you live—and if you do live somewhere with snow in the forecast, the time to secure your home from the elements is now. 

Dreaming of a White Christmas?

The National Weather Service officially defines a white Christmas as having at least 1 inch of snow on the ground at 7:00 a.m. on Dec. 25. 

With a super El Nino this year, conditions will look incredibly mixed come the holiday season. 

For example, the publication predicts a white Christmas in the Northeast, for places like Vermont and upstate New York. But just below that in New Jersey, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania, there isn’t even a chance of snowfall. 

Other areas that can bank on snow this Christmas include the Intermountain region (like Colorado and Wyoming), and Alaska, while other regions, including the Pacific Northwest, High Plains, Lower Lakes, and the Ohio Valley, have a "chance of a white Christmas."

On the flip side, and perhaps not surprisingly, states in the Atlantic Corridor, the Southeast, Florida, the Deep South, the Upper Midwest, Heartland, Texas-Oklahoma, the Desert Southwest, and the Pacific Southwest are not expected to have a white Christmas

Preparing for snow beyond the holiday season

Regardless of whether you’re in for a white Christmas, if you live in an area that gets snow, you’ll likely see snow at some point this season. 

The Farmers' Almanac is advising homeowners to prepare for a winter of “snow, sleet, and surprises” through March 2027. 

Additionally, according to the NOAA, an El Niño system, like the one that’s been brewing since July, tends to be strongest during the winter months. But because of the strength of the system being tracked this year, there are plenty of variables at play. 

“Every El Niño is not the same; each one is unique with its own imprint on our weather,” say Ken Graham, director, NOAA’s National Weather Service (NWS). "Advanced monitoring and an improved understanding of El Niño patterns allow the NWS to better predict and better prepare the public and our core partners for what is to come.”

If a snowstorm is forecasted for your area in the coming months, as a homeowner, there are some important precautions you can take. 

For starters, pipes leading to outdoor faucets and hoses are particularly vulnerable to damage when the temperature plummets, so it's crucial that you make turning them all off part of prepping for a snowstorm, even if you have little time to spare. So be sure to shut off the inside valves leading out to them, unhook hoses, and run your outdoor faucets to drain any water that might be hiding within.

You should also give some thought to your inside pipes to keep them from bursting as well. One smart way to prevent burst pipes indoors, keep cabinet doors under sinks open so warm air in your home can reach them more easily. 

Also, before a storm settles in, make sure to clean your gutters. Debris in gutters can lead to ice dams, causing roof damage, which is the last thing you want when a storm hits. 

Finally, a good rule of thumb is to seal any drafty windows. With utility prices as an all-time high, windows become a prime spot for energy loss.

“Seal out the cold using a shrink film window kit. This can block drafts and air leaks that lead to high heating costs,” says Randi Bujnovsky, weatherization product manager at Duck, a home weatherization brand in Cleveland. 

Shrink film window kits are readily available online or at your local home improvement store. Just make sure you read the directions carefully before using one.