White Christmases are hard to come by in Texas, but they're not completely unheard of.


What You Need To Know

  • White Christmases in Texas are rare 

  • The best odds for a white Christmas are in the Panhandle  

  • Snow this Christmas is unlikely 

NOAA defines a white Christmas as having at least 1 inch of snow on the ground on December 25.


In Texas, the best chance to see snow on Christmas Day is in the Panhandle.

Amarillo has an 11% historical probability of having a white Christmas. In Amarillo, a white Christmas has been observed 12 times since 1892. They even had back-to-back white Christmases in 2011 and 2012.

While it is rare, white Christmases do occasionally happen across North Texas. There have been a few white Christmases in recent memory.

The most recent was in 2012 when an upper-level system and cold front first brought hail-producing thunderstorms to the region. Then a winter weather event unfolded with snow and sleet.

The greatest concentration of heavy snow was in western Denton and Collin counties, where 4 to 6 inches of snow fell.

Based on the National Weather Service records, Dallas-Fort Worth has had just four white Christmases on record. The most recent was in 2009 when a snowstorm impacted the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex on Christmas Eve.

Some locations picked up as much as nine inches of snow from Jacksboro to Bowie. DFW Airport received three inches of snow, the first measurable snow on record for Christmas Eve.

In South Texas, it was a Christmas Miracle in 2004 when accumulating snow fell there.

Satellite imagery of south Texas and northeastern Mexico on Christmas Day morning in 2004. Courtesy: NASA EODIS Worldview

Corpus Christi International Airport officially picked up 4.4 inches of snow, breaking the previous 24-hour snowfall record of 4.3 inches from February 14, 1895.

This was the second white Christmas ever recorded in Corpus Christi. The other was back in 1918 when 0.1 inch fell.


In Central Texas, snow has fallen in Austin as early as November 14 and as late as March 27. However, measurable snowfall has never happened on Christmas.

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