snowingplaces

Where is there snow at Christmas?

74 of the 90 northern-hemisphere ski resorts we track had snow on the ground at mid-mountain on every Christmas Day from 2016 to 2025. Among cities, Asahikawa had a white Christmas in 10 of those 10 years.

White Christmas record for cities

A white Christmas here means at least 2.5 cm (1 in) of snow on the ground on 25 December, the definition used by the US National Weather Service.

Cities by number of white Christmases
RankPlaceSnow on the ground, 25 DecFresh snow, 20–26 DecSnowy days in December
1AsahikawaJapan10 of 1010 of 1020
2OtaruJapan10 of 1010 of 1019
3TromsøNorway10 of 1010 of 1013
4KirunaSweden10 of 109 of 1011
5RovaniemiFinland10 of 109 of 1010
6BanffCanada10 of 109 of 107
7AnchorageUnited States10 of 108 of 1010
8InnsbruckAustria10 of 108 of 109
9Quebec CityCanada10 of 108 of 109
10OttawaCanada10 of 107 of 107
11BozemanUnited States10 of 107 of 106
12WinnipegCanada10 of 107 of 105
13EdmontonCanada10 of 107 of 105
14CalgaryCanada10 of 107 of 105
15AomoriJapan9 of 1010 of 1019
16SapporoJapan9 of 1010 of 1011
17ManaliIndia9 of 109 of 1011
18NaganoJapan9 of 109 of 109
19OuluFinland9 of 109 of 109
20TrondheimNorway9 of 108 of 109
21MoriokaJapan9 of 108 of 108
22YamagataJapan8 of 1010 of 1013
23TampereFinland8 of 108 of 108
24Salt Lake CityUnited States8 of 108 of 106
25SalzburgAustria8 of 107 of 106
26GrenobleFrance8 of 104 of 105
27SyracuseUnited States7 of 108 of 108
28OsloNorway7 of 108 of 106
29MontrealCanada7 of 107 of 107
30TorontoCanada7 of 107 of 105
31TrentoItaly7 of 105 of 103
32BolzanoItaly7 of 104 of 104
33AnnecyFrance7 of 103 of 106
34MinneapolisUnited States7 of 103 of 105
35BuffaloUnited States6 of 107 of 107
36ToyamaJapan6 of 107 of 107
37HakodateJapan6 of 107 of 106
38BoiseUnited States6 of 107 of 105
39RenoUnited States6 of 105 of 103
40LehIndia6 of 105 of 102
41SofiaBulgaria6 of 103 of 102
42ChambéryFrance6 of 102 of 105
43AkitaJapan5 of 109 of 1013
44SrinagarIndia5 of 104 of 105
45DenverUnited States5 of 103 of 102
46GenevaSwitzerland5 of 102 of 103
47KanazawaJapan4 of 108 of 108
48HelsinkiFinland4 of 107 of 107
49DetroitUnited States4 of 104 of 103
50BostonUnited States4 of 104 of 103
51BernSwitzerland4 of 102 of 105
52TbilisiGeorgia3 of 106 of 102
53Andorra la VellaAndorra3 of 105 of 104
54ChicagoUnited States3 of 104 of 103
55FlagstaffUnited States3 of 104 of 103
56ZurichSwitzerland3 of 102 of 104
57NiigataJapan2 of 107 of 108
58BergenNorway2 of 107 of 106
59MilwaukeeUnited States2 of 104 of 103
60StockholmSweden2 of 104 of 103
61MunichGermany1 of 104 of 104
62New York CityUnited States1 of 104 of 102
63SeoulSouth Korea1 of 104 of 102
64BerlinGermany1 of 102 of 102
65TurinItaly1 of 100 of 102
66ViennaAustria0 of 103 of 102
67PortlandUnited States0 of 102 of 102
68ShimlaIndia0 of 101 of 101
69BurlingtonUnited States0 of 100 of 101
70GranadaSpain0 of 100 of 100
71MadridSpain0 of 100 of 100

Ski resorts by Christmas snow record

Mid-mountain, 2016 to 2025. Sorted by years with snow on the ground on Christmas Day, then by years with fresh snow that week.

Ski resorts by Christmas snow record
RankPlaceSnow on the ground, 25 DecFresh snow, 20–26 DecSnowy days in December
1Niseko UnitedJapan10 of 1010 of 1023
2Hakuba ValleyJapan10 of 1010 of 1021
3FuranoJapan10 of 1010 of 1020
4Nozawa OnsenJapan10 of 1010 of 1019
5Whistler BlackcombCanada10 of 1010 of 1018
6Revelstoke Mountain ResortCanada10 of 1010 of 1017
7RusutsuJapan10 of 1010 of 1017
8Shiga KogenJapan10 of 1010 of 1016
9Big WhiteCanada10 of 1010 of 1015
10Sun PeaksCanada10 of 1010 of 1015
11Jackson HoleUnited States10 of 1010 of 1014
12AndermattSwitzerland10 of 1010 of 1014
13FernieCanada10 of 1010 of 1014
14EngelbergSwitzerland10 of 1010 of 1013
15ObertauernAustria10 of 1010 of 1013
16CerviniaItaly10 of 1010 of 1013
17CourmayeurItaly10 of 1010 of 1013
18Alpe d'HuezFrance10 of 1010 of 1012
19Les Deux AlpesFrance10 of 1010 of 1012
20SteamboatUnited States10 of 1010 of 1012
21Les ArcsFrance10 of 1010 of 1012
22Kicking HorseCanada10 of 1010 of 1012
23Big SkyUnited States10 of 1010 of 1012
24Lake LouiseCanada10 of 1010 of 1012
25VailUnited States10 of 1010 of 1011
26AltaUnited States10 of 1010 of 1010
27SnowbirdUnited States10 of 1010 of 1010
28Sunshine VillageCanada10 of 1010 of 1010
29Aspen SnowmassUnited States10 of 1010 of 1010
30Park CityUnited States10 of 1010 of 1010
31Deer ValleyUnited States10 of 1010 of 109
32TellurideUnited States10 of 1010 of 109
33TignesFrance10 of 109 of 1013
34Val d'IsèreFrance10 of 109 of 1013
35Zell am See-KaprunAustria10 of 109 of 1013
36LaaxSwitzerland10 of 109 of 1013
37La PlagneFrance10 of 109 of 1013
38Val ThorensFrance10 of 109 of 1013
39VerbierSwitzerland10 of 109 of 1013
40IschglAustria10 of 109 of 1013
41MéribelFrance10 of 109 of 1013
42CourchevelFrance10 of 109 of 1013
43GrindelwaldSwitzerland10 of 109 of 1013
44SöldenAustria10 of 109 of 1013
45Bad GasteinAustria10 of 109 of 1012
46Crans-MontanaSwitzerland10 of 109 of 1012
47ÅreSweden10 of 109 of 1012
48ZermattSwitzerland10 of 109 of 1011
49Serre ChevalierFrance10 of 109 of 1011
50Beaver CreekUnited States10 of 109 of 1010
51BreckenridgeUnited States10 of 109 of 1010
52Mammoth MountainUnited States10 of 109 of 108
53St. Anton am ArlbergAustria10 of 108 of 1014
54Lech ZürsAustria10 of 108 of 1014
55ChamonixFrance10 of 108 of 1013
56HemsedalNorway10 of 108 of 1013
57MayrhofenAustria10 of 108 of 1013
58AvoriazFrance10 of 108 of 1012
59MegèveFrance10 of 108 of 1012
60Davos KlostersSwitzerland10 of 108 of 1012
61Saas-FeeSwitzerland10 of 108 of 1012
62Arosa LenzerheideSwitzerland10 of 108 of 1011
63Garmisch-PartenkirchenGermany10 of 108 of 1011
64Mont TremblantCanada10 of 108 of 1011
65StoweUnited States10 of 108 of 1011
66Obergurgl-HochgurglAustria10 of 108 of 1011
67LeviFinland10 of 108 of 1011
68St. MoritzSwitzerland10 of 108 of 1011
69SestriereItaly10 of 108 of 1010
70GudauriGeorgia10 of 108 of 108
71LivignoItaly10 of 107 of 109
72BormioItaly10 of 107 of 109
73Alta BadiaItaly10 of 107 of 107
74KillingtonUnited States10 of 106 of 108
75Sun ValleyUnited States9 of 1010 of 109
76KitzbühelAustria9 of 109 of 1011
77Saalbach HinterglemmAustria9 of 109 of 1011
78TrysilNorway9 of 108 of 1010
79HeavenlyUnited States9 of 108 of 109
80Palisades TahoeUnited States9 of 108 of 109
81GrandvaliraAndorra9 of 107 of 1010
82Cortina d'AmpezzoItaly9 of 107 of 107
83Val GardenaItaly9 of 107 of 107
84Madonna di CampiglioItaly9 of 106 of 107
85Baqueira-BeretSpain8 of 106 of 1010
86Taos Ski ValleyUnited States8 of 106 of 106
87BanskoBulgaria7 of 106 of 108
88GulmargIndia6 of 104 of 104
89YongpyongSouth Korea4 of 107 of 103
90Sierra NevadaSpain1 of 103 of 106

Why these are counts, not percentages

Ten Christmases is too few to turn into a probability, so we show what happened: in how many of the years from 2016 to 2025 there was snow on the ground on 25 December, and in how many fresh snow fell between 20 and 26 December. Snow depth comes from the ERA5 reanalysis, which models natural snow on a grid. It does not know about snowmaking, so a resort can have good pistes at Christmas in a year when this record shows little natural snow. Southern-hemisphere resorts are left out because Christmas falls in their summer. The method is described on the how our forecasts work page.