How common is a white Thanksgiving?

The calendar still says November. But it will look a lot more like Christmas this week across Minnesota.

A late November snow blitz is on the way. Many Minnesota towns will be sporting a layer of snow in addition to the usual Thanksgiving fare of turkey, stuffing, and cranberries.

So how often do we get a whiter Thanksgiving in Minnesota? Climatologically speaking in the Twin Cities, it’s about once every three years.

Here’s some perspective on Thanksgiving climatology from the Minnesota DNR Climate Working Group.

Historically, about one in three Thanksgivings have at least one inch of snow on the ground. The deepest snow pack is a tie with 1921 and 1983, both with 10 inches on the ground by Turkey Day.

Measurable snow fell on 29 of the past Thanksgivings back to 1884, about every five years or so. The most snow that fell on Thanksgiving was five inches in 1970. The last time there was measurable snow on Thanksgiving was in 2015 with 1.3 inches of snow.

It occasionally rains on Thanksgiving Day as well. In 1896, a two-day event in the Twin Cities doused Thanksgiving travelers with nearly three inches of rain.

Better odds up north

The odds of a white Thanksgiving increase to much better than 50 percent in northern Minnesota.

It looks like most of Minnesota will be wearing a coat of white this Thanksgiving.