Brace yourselves; white-out Christmas (or at least Christmas Eve) expected

By Bob Steenson, bsteenson@charlescitypress.com

For people hoping for a white Christmas, there’s good news and bad news.

The good news is, there is virtually 100% chance there will be plenty of snow on the ground for a white Christmas Eve and white Christmas Day.

The bad news is what the wind is doing to that snow may get in the way of planned Christmas activities, especially if those activities involve travel or anything outdoors. A white Christmas may be a white-out Christmas, at least through Christmas Eve.

A blizzard warning remains in effect for Floyd County and much of the surrounding area until 6 a.m. Saturday, with blizzard and widespread white-out conditions expected.

Winds will be gusting to as high as 55 mph, the National Weather Service (NWS) warned, driving dangerous to life-threatening wind chills to 40 below zero.

“White-out, blizzard conditions are expected across southeast Minnesota, northeast Iowa and across parts of western and northwest Wisconsin. Travel will be impacted region-wide with dangerous travel, potentially impossible for some locations,” NWS said.

“If you have travel plans over this time, consider altering, delaying or canceling them. In addition, the strong winds could bring down tree limbs, potentially resulting in power outages,” NWS said.

“Travel should be restricted to emergencies only. If you must travel, have a winter survival kit with you. Keep an extra flashlight, food, and water in your vehicle in case of an emergency. If you get stranded, stay with your vehicle. The dangerously cold wind chills as low as 40 below zero could cause frostbite on exposed skin in as little as 10 minutes,” the weather service said.

For travel information and road conditions, visit 511ia.org in Iowa or 511mn.org in Minnesota.

For those people lucky enough to be able to stay tucked in warm and safe inside this weekend, it should, indeed, be a very white Christmas.

Weather records kept by the National Weather Service and the Charles City Press show that the last White Christmas in Charles City was in 2016 when there was 7 inches of snow on the ground on Dec. 25. It is officially considered a white Christmas when there is at least an inch of snow on the ground.

Since the year 2001 there has been only about a 45% chance of having a white Christmas, but in the in the previous half century, from 1951 to 2000, there was an 80% chance of having a white Christmas.

The longest stretch without a white Christmas has been the five years from 2017 to 2021.

The 11 white Christmases in Charles City since the year 2000 include the year 2000 when there was 14 inches of snow on the ground already by Dec. 25, and 2010, when there was 17 inches.