Will it be a white Christmas in Salt Lake City?

Salt Lake City, Utah · checked 1:49 pm MDT, Mon Oct 19

Christmas 2026

Forecasts reach about 7 days ahead, so nobody can say yet whether Salt Lake City will see snow on Christmas 2026. From December 18, 2026 this page shows the National Weather Service forecast for Christmas Eve night and Christmas Day.

Past Christmas Days in Salt Lake City

At Salt Lake City International Airport, at least 1 inch of snow was on the ground on December 25 in 18 of the 35 years from 1991 to 2025 with a snow-depth reading. The most recent was 2022; the deepest was 6 inches in 2007.

Snow fell on Christmas Day itself — any amount, even a trace — in 13 of the 35 years with a snowfall reading; 12 of them had 0.1 inch or more.

NOAA's 1991–2020 normals give Salt Lake City a 48% chance of at least 1 inch of snow on the ground around December 25 — the figure behind NOAA's white Christmas map.

These are past Christmases, not a forecast for this year.

Every December 25 from 1991 to 2025
YearSnow on the groundSnow that fellWhite by NOAA's measure
20250 inchesnone No
20240 inches0.3 in No
20230 inchesnone No
20222 inchesnone Yes
20210 inchesnone No
20200 inchesnone No
20190 inches0.2 in No
20180 inches2.1 in No
20173 inches2.0 in Yes
20163 inches8.6 in Yes
20151 inch1.3 in Yes
2014trace2.7 in No
20134 inchesnone Yes
20122 inchesnone Yes
20110 inchesnone No
20100 inchesnone No
20092 inchesnone Yes
20081 inch7.2 in Yes
20076 inches0.1 in Yes
20062 inchesnone Yes
20050 inchesnone No
2004tracenone No
20032 inches4.2 in Yes
20021 inch1.8 in Yes
20011 inchnone Yes
20003 inchesnone Yes
19990 inchesnone No
19980 inchesnone No
19973 inchesnone Yes
19960 inches0.4 in No
19950 inchesnone No
19942 inchesnone Yes
19931 inchnone Yes
19921 inchnone Yes
1991tracetrace No

Snow depth is measured once a day in whole inches; a trace is less than half an inch. "No reading" means the station sent none for that day.

Where these numbers come from

Past Christmas Days: snow depth and snowfall on December 25, 1991 to 2025, at Salt Lake City International Airport (GHCN-Daily station USW00024127, 7 km from the city centre), read through the Regional Climate Centers' ACIS service. Chance: NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020, daily normal DLY-SNWD-PCTALL-GE001WI for December 25, which NCEI defines as the probability in a 29-day window centred on the date; the same normals are behind NOAA's white Christmas map. Forecast: the National Weather Service API, from December 18. All US government data, public domain.

No bookmaker odds. This site does not predict snow; it repeats the official forecast and the record.

Will it snow in Salt Lake City? This week's forecast and first snow dates

Questions

Will it be a white Christmas in Salt Lake City in 2026?

Forecasts reach about 7 days ahead, so nobody can say yet whether Salt Lake City will see snow on Christmas 2026. From December 18, 2026 this page shows the National Weather Service forecast for Christmas Eve night and Christmas Day.

What are the chances of a white Christmas in Salt Lake City?

NOAA's 1991–2020 normals give Salt Lake City a 48% chance of at least 1 inch of snow on the ground around December 25 — the figure behind NOAA's white Christmas map. It is the share of days with 1 inch or more on the ground in a 29-day window centred on December 25, so it describes late December, not the day alone.

When was the last white Christmas in Salt Lake City?

At Salt Lake City International Airport, at least 1 inch of snow was on the ground on December 25 in 18 of the 35 years from 1991 to 2025 with a snow-depth reading. The most recent was 2022; the deepest was 6 inches in 2007.

Would Salt Lake City count as white by the UK rule?

At this one station, snow was seen falling on 13 of the 35 Christmas Days with a snowfall reading from 1991 to 2025 — the Met Office's test. The UK rule counts a single snowflake anywhere in the country, not at one station.

White Christmas in other US cities

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