PENNSYLVANIA, USA — We did not have a White Christmas but for those who follow the Julian Calendar, it is looking more and more likely you will with snow in the forecast this weekend.
Northeastern Pennsylvania folklore is 'it always snows on Julian Calendar Christmas,' but does it?
Looking back at every year on January 7 since record-keeping began in 1900, I counted that it snowed 74 times. This includes measurable snow and even just on days where there were flurries. This is almost exactly 60 percent of the time. But how does that compare to other random days in January?
First I chose January 4, today, which also happens to be my mom's birthday, she says it always snows on her birthday too by the way. In the Scranton area, it snowed 67 times on January 4 since record-keeping began in 1900. That is about 55 percent of the time. And then I also chose my brother-in-law Anthony's birthday later in the month: January 24. It has snowed 70 times on that day, which is about 57 percent of the time. So on these 3 random days in January, it has snowed about the same amount of times over the past more than 100 years.
The National Weather Service website has some really cool resources and data and one of the the things you can look up is the chance for snow on any given day compared to what is considered 'average', and most of January has the same percentage chance, but the best chance to see snow in the month of January, they say, is January 19th.
Some other weather facts about Julian calendar Christmas: the warmest ever was in 1998. It was 63 degrees that day. The coldest temperature ever was in 2018 when the low was 5 below. And the biggest snowstorm we've ever gotten on January 7 was in 1996 when it snowed 5.5 inches in the Scranton area.
So while it might feel like it snows every year on Julian Calendar Christmas, and it does more than half the time, that is just 'normal' for January.