White Christmas Magic in Colorado? See Historical Trends

Grand Junction and Montrose will see a chance for rain on December 24th, and both communities will be at or below freezing to start the day on December 25th. Does this mean a White Christmas in Western Colorado? It's certainly possible.

Read More: Will Western Colorado See A White Christmas This Year?

It's also possible we just have a cold, icy, rainy day, until lunchtime on 12/25. It may not snow this year, but it has on plenty of occasions. Keep reading to learn more about the snowiest Christmas holidays on record in Western Colorado.

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Coldest Christmas Day In Grand Junction

According to National Weather Service records dating back to 1893, the Christmas of 1924 remains the coldest in Grand Junction's history. Cold air remained in place over Colorado's Western slope from the 24th to the 27th. During that window, daytime temps never got higher than 12°F, and overnight lows ranged from -15°F to -21°F.

The last time Grand Junction woke up to a subzero Christmas was in 1988 when the low reached -1°F. Our warmest Christmas took place in 1971 when the high reached 60°F.

A White Christmas in Grand Junction

In all the years the National Weather Service Office in Grand Junction has been keeping records, it has only snowed 20 times on Christmas Day since 1893. A White Christmas can be rare in the valley, but Christmas snow is as close as visiting the Grand Mesa or the Uncompahgre Plateau.

Grand Junction enjoys Christmas Snow on December 25^th about 16% of the time, with 32% of Christmas holidays including snow-covered ground.

Read More: Are Snowball Fights Illegal In Colorado? What You Need To Know

Most Snow Depth on the Ground Christmas Day in Grand Junction

A record 5.7 inches of snowfall came down in 2015 and still stands as the snowiest Christmas holiday on record in Grand Junction. It also snowed on Christmas Day in 1983 (3.5"), 1904 (2.9"), and 1940 (2.2").

The snowfall in 1983 occurred on top of about 3.5 inches of snow already on the ground in Grand Junction. The total of 7 inches of snow on the ground makes this the Christmas of greatest snow depth so far.