Bring these local white Christmas facts to your next holiday party
Adam DuvernayIt's Christmas, or close enough that it makes no difference in this ubiquitous season.
Here you are again. The family Christmas party, the office Christmas party. Your ugly sweater is itching. Uncle Bob is slurring his politics.
Ugh. Now you're in a little circle of co-workers and you're struggling for small talk topics.
We're here to help. We can't end parties early for you, but here's a topic to jaw on:
Did you know Delaware has had just 10 white Christmases since 1919?
That's the farthest back the National Weather Service has a record of such things, where a white Christmas means at least an inch of snow is on the ground on Dec. 25.
Feel free to use this information to steer party conversations in a benign direction:
1966 - Never whiter
- There was a foot of snow on the ground in Wilmington on Christmas Day 1966. No year has had more snow on the ground since record keeping started.
- The snow came from an intense nor'easter starting Dec. 23 which blanketed the northeast from Virginia to Maine. It was mostly over by late Christmas Eve.
- The next day, the first Kwanzaa was celebrated by its creator, Maulana Karenga.
- On Christmas Eve and Christmas Day of 1966, WPIX in New York City started running its program "The Yule Log," which was a loop of fireplace footage on TV.
2009 - "Snowpocalypse"
- Delaware's most recent white Christmas was nine years ago when the National Weather Service recorded 7 inches of snow on the ground in Wilmington.
- The snow fell during a tremendous Dec. 16-20 blizzard that broke records across the northeast, and in New Castle and Kent counties sparked a state of emergency.
- The blizzard was the first to be called "Snowpocalypse."
- An even more powerful blizzard struck the Midwest between Dec. 22-28 and was ranked a Category 5 on the NOAA Regional Snowfall Index.
1963 - a melty white Christmas
- National Weather Service recorded 4 inches of snow on the ground in Wilmington on Dec. 25, 1963.
- Snowfall in the days before — about 6.4 inches — created emergency conditions in Wilmington, but roads across the county were plowed and the snow stopped in the afternoon of Dec. 23. The emergency in the city was lifted early Christmas Eve.
1995 - a very boozy Christmas
- The National Weather Service recorded 2 inches of snow on the ground in Wilmington on Dec. 25, 1995.
- Christmas eve of this year was the first test of a new law in Delaware which allowed liquor stores to open up from 1-6 p.m. on Sundays when Christmas or New Year's Day fell on a Monday, as Christmas did in 1995. Delawareans took advantage.
1961 - the Nutcracker and "American Treasures"
- The National Weather Service recorded 2 inches of snow on the ground in Wilmington on Dec. 25, 1961.
- First Lady Jackie Kennedy began the White House tradition of selecting a theme for the presidential Christmas tree in 1961. She chose "The Nutcracker." First Lady Melania Trump this year selected the tree theme of "American Treasures.”
1962, 1960, 1959, 1948 and 1935 each saw 1 inch of snow on the ground in Wilmington on Christmas Day, according to NWS.
Christmas Day 1969 recorded the most falling snow in Wilmington of any year recorded by NWS with 3.9 inches falling over the course of the day.
It's still too soon to say for sure what weather Christmas 2018 will bring, but meteorologists are expecting some storms in the days before with snow potential.
Contact Adam Duvernay at (302) 319-1855 or aduvernay@delawareonline.com
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