Shelby Spore

December was a month filled with rainy, gray days and many in Kentucky would have preferred to have snow.

As winter progresses, many Kentuckians feel it’s the first year in a while to not receive any lasting snow. Over the past years, Kentucky and neighboring states have received multiple inches of snow. However, this year it was a rainy and gloomy December to kick off the winter season. Kentucky citizens were disappointed by the lack of cold and snowy weather before Christmas.

While Kentucky did see some days with cold temperatures, with the lowest being 19 degrees, it also saw several days where it was in the mid-60s. Kentuckians expect that temperature in late spring or early fall, not in the weeks before Christmas.

While Kentucians are always hopeful for a white Christmas, weather records show that it has only happened 25% of the time. In the year 2023, we had no snowfall or even a possibility that it could snow. Mitchell Krahulik, science teacher at Great Crossing, was saddened by the lack of snow. “I think it made Christmas less cheerful. The winter chill really gets me in the holiday spirit.”

Stuart Blood, science teacher at Great Crossing, anticipated the disappointing winter weather. “The predictions I had for the weather before Christmas would be a milder winter than we have had so far. The El nino weather pattern in the Pacific tends to cause warmer weather that seems to be pushing the gulf stream further north, isolating the south from colder arctic.”

Some citizens were expecting the weather, as snowfall in Kentucky has decreased over the years. Blood felt that the weather was unexpected this year, “I was not surprised to see the early lack of snowfall and cold in December as it felt like typical early winter El Nino weather.”

The constant shifts in December’s weather was a mystery to everyone as it was warm one day and cold the next. Ella Hickman, senior at Great Crossing, has a theory on why this year was different, “We haven’t gotten multiple inches of snow in 30 years so I believe we will have mild winters from now on. The weather is getting warmer everywhere so snow could possibly disappear in 50 years.”

Many believe the recent weather patterns are due to increasing climate change. Krahulik stated, “I think climate change has made warmer than normal spells in our local weather more common, so it is more likely for us to have green Christmas’s more often in the future.”

Blood also predicted what the winter weather will look like in the future years to come. “The weather is always hard to predict, but rapidly changing climate patterns are something we can expect for the coming future as the Earth’s climate undergoes rapid instability. These types of large forecasts encompassing nearly the entire lower 48 are likely linked to changes in ocean currents caused by melting sea ice and warmer temperatures.”