JACKSON, Wyo. — A muddy Christmas Day is expected in Jackson Hole for the first time in 30 years.
The weather forecast for Dec. 25 is looking unseasonably warm and wet. Local meteorologist with Mountainweather.com Jim Woodmencey gave Buckrail the rundown on the history of Christmas precipitation. He said the last time there was no snow on the ground in the valley on Christmas Day was 1995.
“It would be a Christmas miracle if it actually snowed and made it white for Christmas morning,” Woodmencey said.
His current forecast for the next couple of days includes warm temperatures and showers, most of which will be rain until late in the day on Christmas. Things should start to cool down in the evening of Dec. 25, and precipitation could turn to snow in the valley and continue into the weekend. He said there is a chance that this year’s high could break or tie the Christmas Day record-high temperature of 47°F from 1950. So far, the valley has seen about 3.25 inches of water this month, not including yesterday’s rainfall.
According to Woodmencey, the wettest Christmas Day in Jackson came in 1955 when the valley saw a high of 45°F and over an inch of rain. That happened to be the second-wettest December on record, with 5.62 inches of rain for the month. Records show that from Dec. 19 to 27, 1955, the high temperature was in the 40s every day. December 1964 was the wettest in Jackson, with 5.95 inches of precipitation, including rain and snow. In a pattern similar to what the valley could see this year, it rained leading up to Christmas and eventually turned to snow.
“Around Christmas 1964, it was pouring rain in Jackson from the 22 through the 25, then it finally changed to snow on Christmas night,” Woodmency recounted.
History shows that this kind of weather is not unheard of around Christmas, but Woodmencey is grateful that it doesn’t happen often. The odds of seeing conditions like this are about one in 10 years, though he said that does not mean it will happen once every 10 years.
Having lived in Jackson since 1982, he said the winter of 1996/1997 sticks out to him, in particular. On Christmas Day, there were about 15 inches of snow on the ground in town. It turned warm after Dec. 25, and began raining around Dec. 29. He recalled it being in the 40s and raining until Jan. 4, before temperatures dipped and everything froze. That was the third-rainiest December on record.
Woodmencey said that the recent rain in the valley hasn’t yet affected the high-elevation snowpack, which is where water needed for summer is stored.
“The great dichotomy this year is that the mountains are doing well,” Woodmencey said. “Above 8,000 feet it’s fat, there’s more snow on the ground at the bottom of Rendezvous Bowl this year than last year at the same time.”
