It's not often that snowstorms visit New England on Christmas Day itself. There has been plenty of occasions where snow has fallen just before or after the holiday, but there are few instances of a full-fledged Christmas Day snowstorm. One such occasion came in 2002, when a storm tore through the region, bringing steady snow to the second half of Christmas Day. In 2017, however, New England did even better, with a snowstorm on Christmas morning.
This snowstorm came to New England as a nor'easter. On Christmas Eve, a cold front cleared New England, providing a shot of chilly air needed for a snowstorm. As this front cleared the region, a storm system began to take shape off the Carolina coast. At the same time, a northern stream trough was working across the Great Lakes.
Surface weather map from Christmas Eve 2017, showing the main storm system near South Carolina with a northern stream trough over the Great Lakes:
As the main storm system worked up the east coast, it strengthened and interacted with the trough moving over the Great Lakes. This phasing of the two systems is just what's needed to create a widespread, impactful snowstorm for the region. The nor'easter rapidly intensified as it moved across Cape Cod on the morning of Christmas. This created a short-duration, but potent storm.
The storm's track inside the benchmark led to initial mixing and rain all across much of southern New England, but the storm's strength combined with cold air filtering into New England allowed for a transition to snow for a majority of the region. Conditions deteriorated quickly in the early morning hours of Christmas with the peak of the storm coming throughout Christmas morning.
Below: The storm near peak intensity on Christmas morning. Note the clearing near the center of the storm just offshore from Cape Cod:
This storm was not just festive flakes for the morning; it was a full-fledged, powerful nor'easter that became very strong very quickly. This intensification allowed for snowfall rates throughout the morning to reach at least an inch an hour across New England, including the cities of Hartford, Boston, Nashua and Bangor. The storm created blizzard conditions at times, with snowfall rates as high as five inches an hour reported in Maine and New Hampshire. Thundersnow was reported in eastern Massachusetts and eastern Maine.
Despite these very intense snowfall rates, the storm was moving very quickly, which prevented feet of snow from piling up. The maximum snowfall in New England was 15 inches, recorded in Greenbush, Maine. A wide swath of 6-12 inches fell across interior New England. Maximum snowfalls for the other five states are as follows: 12" in Waterville Valley, New Hampshire; 11" in Townshend, Vermont; 7" in Acton, Massachusetts; 5" in Granby, Connecticut; 5" in Burrillville, Rhode Island.
As the strong storm passed offshore, it brought hurricane-force wind gusts to southeast Massachusetts. Falmouth, Massachusetts saw the top gust of 73mph Christmas morning. Fortunately, this storm did not create a major power outage situation. About 20,000 customers did lose power from the winds across eastern Massachusetts.
Boston would go on to pick up just over 3 inches of snow. The snow came down very intensely when it was falling toward the end of the storm, but much of the storm was rain, or a rain/snow mix for the city. The fact that Boston began this storm as rain creates a bit of a wrinkle in the whole "White Christmas" thing. An official White Christmas is declared if there is at least an inch of snow on the ground Christmas morning, specifically 7am, when official daily measurements are taken.
Since Boston was experiencing rain at 7am, this did not officially count as a White Christmas for the city even though over three inches of snow fell on Christmas Day. The last official year the city saw a White Christmas that fits the official definition was in 2009. Of course, this decade plus long streak of no White Christmases for the city has ended this year.
This snowstorm left as quickly as it came. By the early afternoon, a majority of New England saw the sun come out and roads clear up. That is what truly makes this storm stand out with perfect timing. Heavy snow blew through the region Christmas morning before clearing out for the afternoon. It will be very difficult to see this kind of timing on a Christmas storm again.
Below: Radar loop of the storm coming together and ripping through New England:
The 2017-2018 winter would not let up after this storm. A prolonged Arctic Blast of air enveloped the region for the final week of the year as the storm pulled away. This set up a bitterly cold New Year's Eve/Day. Just a few days after the new year, the Blizzard of 2018 hit with heavy snow and continued arctic temperatures. This storm saw historic coastal flooding, complete with large chunks of ice floating through the streets of Boston. Overall, this winter was very cold.
Despite the natural inconveniences that come with a blizzard, many were happy to see snow falling on Christmas morning and embraced the storm's timing with open arms. A Tewksbury, Massachusetts resident summed it up by saying: “I’m actually happy, we haven’t had snow on Christmas at all in the last few years. It’s actually perfect.”
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