White Christmas - Which U.S. Regions Are Likely to Receive One?

O.k. White Christmas fans, here's the low-down regarding which areas of the nation are likely to have a White Christmas and which are not -- with a slight margin-of-error, given that the forecast can change in the next three days.

Note: The definition of a White Christmas ? For the purposes of this discussion, it's having snow on the ground on Christmas Day, Dec. 25. No snow need fall on that day.

First, the relatively easy part: snow cover. Portions of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, New York state, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Washington State, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota, New Mexico, Arizona, and the mountain ranges in California, already have snow cover, as does (of course) Alaska. Therefore, as long as the snow doesn't melt in roughly three days, congrats!

A Chrismas Eve Storm for the East Coast

Now the hard part: a low pressure system / storm is expected to move up the east coast on Saturday, Dec. 24, Christmas Eve, bringing largely rain to locales along the Atlantic coast, but the interior northeast U.S., including portions of Virginia, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, northern New Jersey, most of New York state, northwest Connecticut, western Massachusetts, as well as Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine could see snow, according to weather.com.

Also, portions of Pennsylvania, New York state, northwest Connecticut, Massachusetts and northern New England could get a mix of rain / sleet / freezing rain / snow -- the infamous wintry mix that meteorologists talk about. Portions of Virginia and West Virginia could also get a wintry mix.

Weather Analysis: No matter where you are -- take the glass half-full stance.

If you have snow on the ground on Dec. 25 where you live, it's picture postcard-like.

If there's no snow, well, at least you don't have to shovel.

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