Actions

GREEN CHRISTMAS: Plan for a warm and eventually wet Christmas

Cleveland forecast from the Power of 5 weather team

By: Katie McGraw

Posted

and last updated

We are less than one week out from Christmas! Curious about what to expect over the next several days, including Christmas Day? Will it be a green or white Christmas? Let's discuss!

TODAY:
Friday will be mainly dry with the exception of a few isolated and light showers. High temperatures are expected to be in the mid-40 to even upper 40s which is about 5-10 degrees above average for the end of December. For perspective, the average high is 39 degrees for Cleveland. Plus we continue to warm up over the weekend!

SATURDAY:
A weak disturbance will cross the region on Saturday. This will bring a batch of rain on Saturday. The rain chance is high on Saturday, but rainfall totals look to be pretty low. Plan for less than a quarter inch of rain. Highs will remain in the mid to upper 40s on Saturday.

CHRISTMAS EVE/SUNDAY: Only isolated showers look possible on Christmas Eve with plenty of dry time. Temperatures begin to climb, too. Highs are expected to be in the 50s by Sunday - which is more than 10 degrees above what is typical for the end of December!

CHRISTMAS DAY/MONDAY: Most of Christmas Day looks dry, with warm temperatures! Highs are expected to be in the in the mid to even upper 50s! We will be flirting with 60s on Christmas. The record is 66 degrees - so this shows us it will be unusually warm and a far cry from last year when the high temperature was only 14 degrees!!

You will likely see some rain on Christmas, but as of Friday morning, that rain looks to hold off until around Monday evening/Christmas night, so you will have plenty of dry time as well before the rain arrives. Plan for an active and unsettled last week of 2023 with falling temperatures by the end of the week and even some snow chances returning.

Since temperatures will be in the 50s with rain moving in — a Green Christmas it is for 2023! It is actually more common for us to have a green Christmas compared to a White Christmas. Over the last 130 years, 54 Christmases had at least one inch of snow on the ground. That is only 41% of the time. The Power of 5 Weather Team will, of course, continue to monitor the forecast. We will keep this article updated over the next several days - so be sure to check back for any changes. Happy Holidays!