Christmas Day Climatology



Christmas Day climatology Columbus, Ohio

Columbus, Ohio weather is has varied wildly over the 143 years of records, and the holidays are no different. It’s seen record warmth into the 60s, and record cold well below zero, as well as heavy snow and driving rainstorms. The records below break down Columbus’ historic Christmas Day climatology.

Normals 1991-2020
High: 35.6
Low: 23.1
Mean: 26.8
Precipitation: 0.10″
Snowfall: 0.1″

1878-2020 Averages
High: 36.4
Low: 23.5
Mean: 30.1
Precipitation: 0.08″
Snowfall: 0.3″

First, let’s take a look at the temperature breakdowns for the holiday.

Top 10 Coldest Highs
1. 1983: 1
2. 1878: 10
3. 1924: 11
4. 1980: 15
5. 1902: 16
6. 1985: 17
7. 2020: 18
8. 1884, 2000: 19
9. 1899, 1906, 1914:20
10. 1950, 1968: 22

Top 10 Coldest Lows
1. 1983: -12
2. 1980: -5
3. 1935: -4
4. 1924: -3
5. 1878: -2
6. 2004: -1
7. 1985: 1
8. 2000: 2
9. 1884: 4
10. 1914, 1999: 7

Top 10 Warmest Highs
1. 1893: 64
2. 1982: 63
3. 1932, 1940: 62
4. 1889: 60
5. 1964: 58
6. 1895, 1955: 57
7. 2019: 56
8. 1891: 55
9. 1936, 2015: 53
10. 1888, 1915, 1987: 52

Top 10 Warmest Lows
1. 1889, 1982: 55
2. 1895: 52
3. 1893: 49
4. 1891: 45
5. 2015: 43
6. 1932, 1940: 40
7. 1888, 1964, 1973: 39
8. 1987: 38
9. 1922, 1941, 2009, 2016: 37
10. 1936, 1972: 36

Number of Christmases with High Temperature
Less than 10: 1
10-19: 8
20-29: 24
30-39: 54
40-49: 36
50-59: 12
60 or Higher: 5

Number of Christmases with Low Temperature
Less than 0: 6
0-9: 7
10-19: 36
20-29: 47
30-39: 38
40-49: 5
50 or Higher: 4



Now let’s example precipitation and snowfall records.

Top 10 Wettest
1. 2009: 0.79″
2. 1944: 0.77″
3. 1926: 0.69″
4. 1951: 0.58″
5. 2006: 0.57″
6. 1945: 0.54″
7. 1957: 0.52″
8. 1987, 2005: 0.51″
9. 1915: 0.48″
10. 1909: 0.47″

Number of Christmases with Precipitation Amount
0.00″: 46
Trace: 27
0.01″-0.24″: 55
0.25″-0.49″: 6
0.50″-0.74″: 7
0.75″-0.99″: 2
1.00″ or More: 0

Top 10 Snowiest
1. 1890: 7.0″
2. 1909: 5.7″
3. 1950: 3.0″
4. 1917: 2.5″
5. 1969: 2.3″
6. 1884: 2.2″
7. 1976: 1.9″
8. 1880: 1.8″
9. 1935: 1.3″
10. 1944: 1.2″

Most Snow on the Ground (Since 1940)
1. 1960: 9″
2. 1961, 1963, 1989, 1995: 4″
3. 1969, 1980, 2004: 3″
4. 1947, 1950, 2000: 2″
5. 1944, 1945, 1951, 1956, 1962, 1990, 1992, 1993, 2010, 2017: 1″

Number of Christmases with Snowfall Amount
0.0″: 75
Trace: 23
0.1″-0.4″: 20
0.5″-0.9″: 9
1″-2.9″: 7
3″ or More: 3



New Year’s Climatology



New Year's climatology

New Years weather has historically been surprisingly tranquil, with some exceptions. Highs have generally been in the 30s or 40s and significant snowfalls have been rare. The records for New Year’s climatology run back to 1878.

New Year’s Eve Normals
High: 37
Low: 24
Mean: 30
Precipitation: 0.09″
Snowfall: 0.2″

New Year’s Day Normals
High: 37
Low: 23
Mean: 30
Precipitation: 0.10″
Snowfall: 0.3″

Temperature Records

Top 10 Coldest New Year’s Eve Highs
1. 1880: 10
2. 1976: 13
3. 1899: 16
4. 1917, 1962: 17
5. 2017: 19
6. 1894, 1998: 23
7. 1881, 1963, 1983, 2001: 24
8. 1914, 1961, 1997: 25
9. 1939, 1946, 2014: 26
10. 1935: 27

Top 10 Coldest New Year’s Day Highs
1. 1928: 8
2. 1968: 10
3. 2018: 11
4. 1977: 12
5. 1900: 16
6. 1969: 17
7. 1898, 1918: 18
8. 1940: 19
9. 1999: 20
10. 1881: 21

Top 10 Coldest New Year’s Eve Lows
1. 1976: -5
2. 1880: -3
3. 1899, 1963: 1
4. 1961, 1962, 2017: 2
5. 1983: 3
6. 1935, 1939: 6
7. 1902, 1917: 7
8. 1878, 1927, 1968: 8
9. 1960, 1967: 10
10. 1914, 2000: 11

Top 10 Coldest New Year’s Day Lows
1. 1968: -6
2. 2018: -2
3. 1928: -1
4. 1881: 0
5. 1977: 1
6. 1945: 2
7. 1940: 3
8. 1898, 1918, 1963: 4
9. 1900, 1969: 5
10. 20001: 6

Top 10 Coldest New Year’s Eve Means
1. 1880: 3.5
2. 1976: 4
3. 1899: 8.5
4. 1962: 9.5
5. 2017: 10.5
6. 1917: 12
7. 1963: 12.5
8. 1961, 1983: 13.5
9. 1939: 16
10. 1935: 16.5

Top 10 Coldest New Year’s Day Means
1. 1968: 2
2. 1928: 3.5
3. 2018: 4.5
4. 1977: 6.5
5. 1881, 1900: 10.5
6. 1898, 1918, 1940, 1969: 11
7. 1963, 1999: 13.5
8. 1887: 15
9. 2001: 16
10. 1974: 16.5

Top 10 Warmest New Year’s Eve Highs
1. 1951: 68
2. 1965: 63
3. 2010: 62
4. 2006, 2018: 61
5. 1992: 60
6. 1884, 1978, 2022: 59
7. 1972, 2021: 58
8. 1923, 1936: 57
9. 1906, 1933, 2004: 54
10. 1896, 1984, 2002: 53

Top 10 Warmest New Year’s Day Highs
1. 1952: 67
2. 1985: 65
3. 1890: 62
4. 1897: 61
5. 1930: 60
6. 1916, 1921, 1979, 2022: 59
7. 2011, 2019: 58
8. 1955: 57
9. 1905, 1934, 1948: 56
10. 1892, 1919, 2012: 55

Top 10 Warmest New Year’s Eve Lows
1. 1965: 52
2. 2004: 50
3. 2006, 2010: 45
4. 1951: 44
5. 1918, 1978: 43
6. 2021: 42
7. 1937, 1947, 2002: 41
8. 1896, 1933, 2011, 2022: 39
9. 1906, 1929, 1931, 1972: 37
10. 1995, 2018: 36

Top 10 Warmest New Year’s Day Lows
1. 1930: 47
2. 2005: 46
3. 1892: 43
4. 1891: 42
5. 1916, 1921, 1950, 1966, 2022: 41
6. 1897, 1905, 1932, 2019: 39
7. 1941, 1942, 1952: 38
8. 1890, 1907, 1996, 2007: 36
9. 1948, 1959: 35
10. 1886, 1943, 1967, 1992, 1997, 2023: 34

Top 10 Warmest New Year’s Eve Means
1. 1965: 57.5
2. 1951: 56
3. 2010: 53.5
4. 2006: 53
5. 2004: 52
6. 1978: 51
7. 2021: 50
8. 2022: 49
9. 2018: 48.5
10. 1972: 47.5

Top 10 Warmest New Year’s Day Means
1. 1930: 53.5
2. 1952: 52.5
3. 1897, 1916, 1921, 2022: 50
4. 1890, 1892, 1985, 2005: 49
5. 2019: 48.5
6. 1891: 48
7. 1905, 1950: 47.5
8. 1966: 46.5
9. 1942: 46
10. 1948: 45.5

New Year’s Eve High Temperatures by Occurrence since 1878
0 or Below: 0
1-9: 0
10-19: 6
20-29: 18
30-39: 51
40-49: 44
50-59: 21
60 and Above: 6

New Year’s Day High Temperatures by Occurrence since 1878
0 or Below: 0
1-9: 1
10-19: 8
20-29: 20
30-39: 48
40-49: 40
50-59: 25
60 and Above: 5

New Year’s Eve Low Temperatures by Occurrence since 1878
0 or Below: 2
1-9: 13
10-19: 27
20-29: 48
30-39: 45
40-49: 9
50-59: 2
60 and Above: 0

New Year’s Day Low Temperatures by Occurrence since 1878
0 or Below: 4
1-9: 15
10-19: 26
20-29 52
30-39: 41
40-49: 9
50-59: 0
60 and Above: 0



Precipitation Records

Top 10 Wettest New Year’s Eves
1. 2018: 1.01″
2. 1887: 0.89″
3. 1886: 0.76″
4. 1879: 0.74″
5. 1944: 0.71″
6. 1978: 0.67″
7. 1927: 0.49″
8. 1974: 0.47″
9. 1897, 1989, 2006: 0.46″
10. 2022: 0.44″

Top 10 Wettest New Year’s Days
1. 2022: 1.34″
2. 1948: 1.28″
3. 2021: 1.04″
4. 1916: 1.02″
5. 1979: 0.89″
6. 1919: 0.71″
7. 1959: 0.62″
8. 1893: 0.60″
9. 2003: 0.54″
10. 1964: 0.50″

New Year’s Eve Precipitation by Amount Occurrence since 1878
None: 43
Trace: 35
0.01-0.24: 47
0.25-0.49: 15
0.50-0.99: 5
1.00 or More: 1

New Year’s Day Precipitation by Amount Occurrence since 1878
None: 50
Trace: 34
0.01-0.24: 38
0.25-0.49: 14
0.50-0.99: 6
1.00 or More: 4

Top 10 Snowiest New Year’s Eves
1. 1897: 3.6″
2. 1892: 3.0″
3. 1960: 2.6″
4. 1967: 2.4″
5. 2009: 2.1″
6. 1980: 2.0″
7. 1973: 1.9″
8. 1998, 2012: 1.7″
9. 1887: 1.6″
10. 1961: 0.9″

Top 10 Snowiest New Year’s Days
1. 1964: 5.2″
2. 1883: 3.9″
3. 1887: 2.5″
4. 1970: 2.2″
5. 1884: 1.8″
6. 1945: 1.7″
7. 1961: 1.6″
8. 1928: 1.3″
9. 1918: 1.2″
10. 1981: 1.1″

Top 10 Snowiest New Year’s Holidays (Both December 31st and January 1st Combined)
1. 1963-1964: 5.2″
2. 1960-1961: 4.2″
3. 1892-1893: 4.0″
4. 1882-1883: 3.9″
5. 1897-1898: 3.6″
6. 1980-1981: 3.1″
7. 2009-2010: 2.7″
8. 1969-1970: 2.6″
9. 1886-1887: 2.5″
10. 1967-1968: 2.4″

New Year’s Eve Snowfall by Amount Occurrence since 1878
None: 91
Trace: 28
0.1-0.4: 13
0.5-0.9: 4
1.0-2.4: 7
2.5-4.9: 3
5.0 or More: 0

New Year’s Day Snowfall by Amount Occurrence since 1878
None: 88
Trace: 28
0.1-0.4: 13
0.5-0.9: 4
1.0-2.4: 10
2.5-4.9: 2
5.0 or More: 1

Top 5 Deepest New Year’s Eve Snow Depths since 1940
1. 2012: 7″
2. 1973, 2000: 4″
3. 1960, 1976, 2017: 3″
4. 1961, 1995, 1997, 2009: 2″
5. 1967, 1969, 1993, 1998, 2020: 1″

Top 5 Deepest New Year’s Day Snow Depths since 1940
1. 2013: 9″
2. 1961: 6″
3. 2001: 4″
4. 1974, 1977: 3″
5. 1940, 1945, 1962, 1968, 1981, 2018: 2″

For more local weather records, visit:
Weather History
And for current local weather and forecasts, visit:
Wilmington National Weather Service