How Common Is A White Christmas In Reno?

Snowglobes can only satisfy a meteorologist's dream of a white Christmas for so long. Sure you can drive to the Sierra for a winter wonderland, but what about Reno, we want some too. 

"I am very much looking forward to the snow on Christmas. I'm very excited about it," said climatologist Stephanie McAfee. 

We have an 11% chance of having a white Christmas in Reno. We've seen snow fall on Christmas day eight times before. The last time we had a white Christmas was in 2012 where we had just over an inch of snow fall on the day itself. 2009 counted too because we had four inches of snow on the ground. 

"It was a huge deal. It is in one of Reno's top ten biggest snow storms," added McAfee.

We're talking about the snowstorm of 1971. Where we got just under 15 inches of snow on Christmas. The snow depth though was only four inches.  

"Snow can often compact very quickly and also melt when it falls on the warm surface. Especially when you have a bare surface and the ground temperature is is still warm," said climatologist Nina Oakley. 

Now the question is will it still be there on Christmas Day? We need at least an inch. There's always the mountains right?

"Pretty much always a drive to a white Christmas. Virginia City is going to have snow on the ground about 50% of the time. A non snowy Christmas up in the Sierra is really rare. There have only been a few instances of no snow on the ground up near Truckee and the Mount Rose Ski Area," said McAfee.

But this year you won't have to travel to share in on the fun.