December is here, and this is a month where high snowfall amounts are quite common.

But, has it ever not snowed in December?


What You Need To Know

  • Most Decembers feature meaningful snow, but not always

  • It is possible to go snow-free in December

  • Statistics say you will get snow this December

Relatively speaking, we don't know October and November as very snowy months across much of our state. Though, some in northern Wisconsin may beg to differ this year.

Once we get into December, the average snowfall numbers really stack up.

Going back through the record books, there have been a handful of Decembers where snowflakes were as rare as a snowman in July.

For Milwaukee, and greater southeastern Wisconsin, just two Decembers have had no measurable snow.

Note: We consider measurable snowfall to be 0.1 inch or more of snow.

In Madison, it’s happened three times.


Even in Green Bay, the tundra known for cold and snow, there has been at least one December where the snowflakes never really showed up.


What about places that saw no snowflakes fly? Checking through the data, Rhinelander reported zero inches of snow in Dec. 1986. That seems odd to me, but that's the number in the official National Weather Service record books.

If you look at areas like Racine and Kenosha, they too have had at least one December with zero snowfall (most recently in 2014). Many other spots have had Decembers with just a trace amount of snowfall.

Records go back to the late 1800s across our state. So to only have a few instances of no snow in December means the odds of it happening are quite low. However, in the words of Lloyd Christmas, "so you’re saying there's a chance?" Yes. But, it probably won't be this year. Get those shovels ready.

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