White Christmas unlikely

CLOVIS — Even though eastern New Mexico saw some stray snowflakes fall on Friday, meteorologists say don't expect a white Christmas this year.

"Unfortunately it looks like it should be drying out here the rest of the weekend and remaining dry next week," Accuweather Senior Meteorologist Alan Reppert said.

National Weather Service Meteorologist Roger Smith said further west there was some snow accumulation of about an inch in the Ruidoso area on Friday, but nothing close to a white Christmas appears to be on tap along New Mexico's eastern border.

"There's a weak pressure system moving into east central New Mexico that could bring a few flurries but we don't expect any accumulations in the great plains area," Smith said.

Winter officially began on Thursday and in general meteorologists are expecting the season to be a bit more mild than average in terms of both temperature and precipitation.

"The Climate Prediction Center of the National Weather Service predicts a greater than 70 percent chance of normal or above normal temperatures from January to March," Smith said.

Reppert said Accuweather predicts temperatures will be slightly above normal for most of the season and the coldest month of winter could come in February.

The Old Farmer's Almanac 2018 makes the same prediction, listing February as the coldest month of the year in the High Plains region which includes eastern New Mexico, with an average temperature for the month predicted to be 32 F, 4 degrees above average.

Despite getting a taste of snow on Friday, the area is expected to receive below average precipitation over the next few months.

"There's a 40 percent chance of lower than normal precipitation for the period from January to March," Smith said, adding that the areas around the Rocky Mountains and the Great Lakes are some of the few parts of the country that will experience greater than average snowfall.

"We are expecting some snow fall this season but we won't see anything big or significant," Reppert said. "For precipitation it should be a little bit below normal but not significantly below normal, we're not going to see any drought or anything at all like that."

If you are still suffering from a Goliath-induced fear of large snowstorms, the meteorologists say you can rest easy for the time being, with no major storms currently on the horizon for eastern New Mexico.

"At least for storms we're not expecting anything for at least the next week or so," Reppert said.