The Christmas of 2011 will be remembered for its lack of snow on the ground and being unusually warm.  More details on this can be found below.

Snowless…

With the exception of a few locations (Medford, Lynxville, and Steuben), most areas had little or no snow cover this morning at 7 AM.  This made this Christmas the first green one since 2006.  The maps below show the snow depth across the area at this time.

La Crosse, WI has had “white” Christmases (at least one inch of snow on the ground at 6 AM, measurable snow falls on that Christmas, or both) 85 times since 1893, or 73% of the time (note: data unavailable for 1985 and therefore not included in this percentage).  Other non-”white” Christmases include: 1894, 1896, 1907, 1911, 1912, 1913, 1917, 1918, 1922, 1923, 1928, 1931, 1932, 1936, 1939, 1941, 1943, 1946, 1953, 1960, 1965, 1967, 1971, 1975, 1979, 1980, 1982, 1986, 1988, 1994, 1997, 2002, 2006.

Rochester, MN has had “white” Christmases 59 times (out of 74) since 1933, or 80% of the time. The years of 1936, 1941, 1942, and 1943 were excluded from the statistics due to missing data.  Other non-”white” Christmases include: 1944, 1949, 1953, 1958, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1979, 1980, 1982, 1986, 1988, 1997, 2002, 2006.

Unusually Warm…

La Crosse, WI…Warmest Christmas since 1999

With the lack of snow cover and quite a bit of sunshine, the high temperature at La Crosse, WI climbed to 42 degrees.  This made it the warmest Christmas in La Crosse since 1999 when the high temperature was also 42 degrees.  This tied 1953 and 1999 for the ninth warmest Christmas in La Crosse.  The warmest Christmas ever recorded was 55 degrees in 1936.  The table below lists the ten warmest Christmases in La Crosse, WI.

Warmest Christmases
in La Crosse WI
1872-2011

Rank     Temperature      Year
1        55 degrees      1936
2        54 degrees      1881
3        46 degrees      1982
4        45 degrees      1940
45 degrees      1912
6        44 degrees      1928
44 degrees      1922
44 degrees      1877
9        42 degrees      2011
42 degrees      1999
42 degrees      1953

Rochester, MN…Warmest Christmas Since 1959

With the lack of snow cover and quite a bit of sunshine, the high temperature at Rochester MN climbed to 41 degrees.  This made it the warmest Christmas in Rochester since 1959 when the high temperature was also 41 degrees.  This tied 1959 for the third warmest Christmas in Rochester.  The warmest Christmas ever recorded was 50 degrees in 1936.  The table below lists the ten warmest Christmases in Rochester, MN.

Warmest Christmases
in Rochester MN
1886-2011

Rank     Temperature      Year
1        50 degrees      1936
2        42 degrees      1928
3        41 degrees      2011
41 degrees      1959
5        40 degrees      1940
6        39 degrees      1999
39 degrees      1994
39 degrees      1953
39 degrees      1943
10        38 degrees      1963
38 degrees      1954