A White Christmas in Cinnaminson? Not Likely, Weather Service Says

Take a cue from Irving Berlin and keep dreaming of a white Christmas, because that’s all you can do this year.

If you trust the National Weather Service (and why wouldn’t you?), the best we can hope for is a wet Christmas.

“It looks like for South Jersey we’re not expecting much more than rain right now (over the weekend),” said meteorologist Valerie Meola.

Meola said the current forecast for Sunday calls for temperatures in the mid-30s to mid-40s, with about a 40 percent chance of rain. She said there’s a slight chance of a wintry mix overnight Saturday, “but it warms right back up … Right now we’re running much too warm (for snow).”

No surprise there really. December 2011 has been somewhat unseasonably warm thus far, especially when compared to December 2010, according to Meola.

Last year’s median temperature for December was 32.7 degrees, 4.7 degrees below normal, she said. This year, the median temperature so far is 41.5—4.1 degrees above normal. 

Meola also provided a reminder that  with a post-Christmas snowstorm that dumped between six to 18 inches on the region between Dec. 26 and 27. Don’t expect anything like that this year though. 

For those still holding out hope, Meola offered a smidgen, explaining that Christmas is still several days away and the forecasts are not set in stone. 

“There’s still a lot of uncertainty,” she said. “There’s not a lot of confidence right now. We tend not to make big adjustments until the picture becomes clear.”