Here Are The Chances Long Island Will See A White Christmas

LONG ISLAND, NY — Those dreaming of a white Christmas on Long Island will likely be disappointed. Using historical records to see where snow falls most on the holiday, forecasters said there's a small chance Long Islanders will open up their windows to a winter wonderland.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's interactive map used climate measurements taken over the last three decades to determine the odds of a snowy Christmas. On Long Island, those chances range from 13 percent to 17 percent.

• Mineola: 13 percent chance of at least an inch of snow.
• Islip: 14 percent chance of at least an inch of snow.
• Patchogue: 17 percent chance of at least an inch of snow.
• Riverhead: 16 percent chance of at least an inch of snow.
• Bridgehampton: 15 percent chance of at least an inch of snow.

AccuWeather meteorologists say there's about a 20 percent to 35 percent chance of precipitation on the island on Dec. 25, with temperatures hovering around 34 degrees.

This year, snow looks set to fall in the west of the country, the plains and the Midwest, AccuWeather said. Upstate New York and western New York also have significantly better odds, ranging from about 40 percent all the way to over 90 percent near the northern Vermont border.

The National Weather Service will give a prediction closer to the holiday.

The white Christmas ideal in the United States comes from American composer Irving Berlin's classic, "White Christmas," recorded by Bing Crosby and others. The composer wrote the song while staying at an inn in southern California in 1940 and imagining the winters from his childhood in New York.

Patch staffer Adam Nichols contributed reporting.