What's better than a white Christmas? Not much; after all, it's what Bing Crosby sings about every year and it's the one thing that makes the holiday just that much better.
But what are the odds of getting a white Christmas in Cleveland? Honestly, not that great. In recent years, Christmas snow has been pretty rare in Northeast Ohio, though there have been a few examples of extreme snowfall totals.
Still, if you're hoping for yet another white Cleveland Christmas, take a look at what the area has seen in recent years (using the totals at Cleveland-Hopkins International Airport as the measuring stick).
Cleveland, Ohio Christmas Day Snowfall Totals
- 2022: 0.2 inches
- 2021: 0 inches
- 2020: 4.2 inches (with an incredible 16.2" on the east side in South Euclid!)
- 2019: 0 inches
- 2018: trace amounts of snowfall
- 2017: 0.6 inches
- 2016: 0 inches
- 2015: 0 inches
As you can see, it's tough to get much of anything in terms of snow on Christmas Day. Having said this, if it is going to snow on Christmas in Northeast Ohio, it's really going to snow. Most recently, there was a major snowstorm in the region in 2020, which didn't hurt with so many of us staying home that year anyway.
And when it comes to ranking the largest one-day snowfalls in the city's history, December 25th does make an appearance. Clocking in at number 13, December 25, 2002 was treated to 10.2 inches, a pretty gigantic snowfall that no doubt pleased anyone desperately wishing for a white Christmas. As for the largest one-day snowfall record in Cleveland, that belongs to November 10, 1913, when it snowed an incredible 17.4 inches.
So Will We Get a White Christmas in Cleveland?
Chances are, you'll wake up Christmas Day to still see the grass in your yard. But there's also a chance that it could snow - and if it does, it might just be in the form of an unrelenting blizzard that makes travel nearly impossible.
You never know with lake-effect snow; in the winter, the daily estimates come in feet as much as they do in inches. So there's always the chance in Northeast Ohio that Christmas will be full of snow - it certainly seems to be an all-or-nothing proposition on that particular day.
Is this the year the city gets dumped on yet again?