Updated Sunday, Dec. 24, 2023
By SALINA POST
Instead of a 50-degree Christmas like anticipated, Kansas may see a wintery Christmas this year, with snow probabilities for Salina hovering at 64%.
Much cooler air than initially forecasted will arrive behind a cold front on Monday, allowing rain to change to snow across central and northern Kansas.
Christmas Day has an increasing probability of snow accumulating over northern Kansas, likely into Tuesday morning.
Road conditions may become slick, especially along and north of Interstate 70.
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By OLIVIA BERGMEIER
Salina Post
Christmas this year will be warmer than most, but not the warmest on record. According to Wichita National Weather Service Meteorologist Kelly Butler, the forecast shows a soggy and breezy holiday.
On Christmas Eve, Salina has a 50% to 60% chance of rain, which will dip to a 20% to 30% chance the next morning and throughout most of the day.
"It'll be in the upper 50s, potentially low 60s, we've got 61 officially in the forecast right now on Christmas Eve," Butler said. "That's going to come down to 52 for the high on Christmas Day. Between Christmas Eve and Christmas, we have a low in the Salina area around 40 to upper 30s."
The temperature record high for Christmas is almost 70 degrees, so this year does not depart drastically from the ordinary. Butler said average temperatures for Kansas on Christmas day hover around 40 degrees.
Butler said there is no snow in the forecast either, but temperatures on the holiday may vary a few degrees from NWS' projections.