History Of White Christmas

With snow covering much of the state, and temperatures not expected to rise above freezing until Saturday, it looks like most Arkansans will enjoy a white Christmas. It will be the first since 1990 for central Arkansas, the National Weather Service says, and only the ninth since 1885. Forecasters at North Little Rock said their office sees snow on the ground at Christmas an average of every 14 years. ------ A history of snowfall on or around Christmas since 1885, when the weather service began keeping snowfall records at its Little Rock-North Little Rock office: --1887, snow falls with no accumulation --1897, 1 inch of snow falls before 12:45 p.m., must most melts by that night. --1913, snow starts at midnight and ends at 11:30 a.m., temperatures rise to 40 and only a trace remains by evening. --1914, snow falls with no accumulation --1918, snow falls with no accumulation --1926, 21/2 inches fall at midday and stays for several days. Storm arrives a month after a Thanksgiving tornado outbreak. --1935, snow falls with no accumulation --1939, snow falls with no accumulation --1962, 11/2 inches fall on Christmas Eve but only a trace remains by Christmas morning. --1963, 4 inches remain on ground after 9.8-inch snowfall on Dec. 22. --1975, 2 inches fall in hills around the city but snow mixes with rain at lower elevations. Most melts overnight. --1983, 1 inch of ice and snow remains from a 2-inch storm earlier in the week. --1990, nearly 21/2 inches fall on Dec. 22-23 and most remains through Christmas Day. Not included in the weather service list of white Christmases is the 2000 ice storm, which began Christmas night and shut down much of the state for the rest of the year. Northern Arkansas, with its colder temperatures, sees white Christmases more often. They come less often in southern Arkansas. (Copyright 2004 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)