Rainy Christmas more likely than a White Christmas this year; Strong gusts this weekend
Weather forecasts for the Netherlands show that the chance of a White Christmas is extremely small this year, and that there is a much greater chance of a soggy, rainy Christmas period this year. Temperatures will drop slightly to around five to eight degrees Celsius on Christmas Day, with rainfall expected, according to WeerOnline. The weekend before Christmas is expected to be particularly windy.
"There is a good chance - approximately 80 percent - of a continuation of the variable, and fairly wet weather," said Dutch meteorological office KNMI, referring to the week from Christmas Day to New Year's Day. It is also more likely that the temperatures will be above the long-term average of six degrees during the day, and about two degrees overnight.
The warmer weather will likely be due to winds arriving from the west or southwest. That will make it unlikely that any precipitation will take the form of snow during the week. Wet snow is possible, hail and rain is more likely. "If the wind remains from the northwest a little longer, we may also expect a few winter showers during the Christmas holidays. However, the chance of a White Christmas with blanketing snow cover is very small," WeerOnline reported.
Officially, a White Christmas is counted in the Netherlands when there is measurable snowfall on both Christmas Day and Boxing Day. This has only happened eight times since record keeping began, with the last occurrence taking place in 2010.
The week before Christmas, which started on Monday, was expected to see temperatures rise to 10 degrees in Noord-Holland, but just 5 degrees in Limburg, with fairly strong coastal winds. The weather could warm up a bit more on Thursday, but will cool off with highs from 6 to 8 degrees on Friday, according to the KNMI. Every day this week has a high chance of precipitation.
It will be particularly rainy on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, the KNMI said. Thursday and Friday both have a high likelihood of strong, or very strong wind gusts. There is also a good chance that the KNMI will issue a Code Yellow Weather warning for the gusty weather on Thursday. This could even intensify to a Code Orange warning. A Code Yellow warning is also a possibility on Friday and Saturday.
The weather has been warmer than average for December thus far. The temperatures have been between eight to twelve degrees this December, while most years. Last year, the weather was also warmer than average on Christmas Day, despite the frost that came in the weeks before it, ensuring that some people could skate on natural ice. It was seven to twelve degrees on Christmas Day last year.
