Cold, white Christmases in Illinois happen less often than expected

By Tom Emery

For those of you dreaming of a white Christmas, your odds in Illinois are not good.

And while we commonly associate Christmas in the Land of Lincoln with cold weather, the average highs on Santa’s big day are surprisingly moderate.

The National Weather Service defines a white Christmas as having at least an inch of snow on the ground by 6 a.m. on Christmas morning. In much of the state, that happens less than half of the time.

For the St. Louis metro area, historically there is a 20 percent chance of a white Christmas. In Springfield, capital city residents have enjoyed (or endure...