Arguably, The Main Line and the rest of the Philadelphia region experienced a White Christmas in 2009, thanks to a blizzard that brought almost two feet of snow to the area on December 20, 2009.
If you looked out the window on Christmas Morning that year, everything looked white, so sure, you could have called that a White Christmas.
Main Line Times, The Christmas Eve Blizzard, 1966
But if you’re talking about having experienced the real deal, a snowstorm that came in on Christmas Eve and delivered that snowglobe look on the morning of – then you would have to be at least old enough to carry a Medicare Card in your wallet.
The Inquirer wrote on Christmas Day, 1966 – The Weather Bureau Reported at 12:45 A.M. Christmas Day that 12 inches of snow had fallen on the city. The storm had begun to taper off, the Bureau said. “It was the heaviest [and still is] snowfall on Christmas Eve in the history of the Philadephia Bureau.”
Click above to enlarge.
Philadelphia Inquirer, Christmas Day 1966 – Click above to enlarge.
White Christmases are certainly fairly rare in our area. Here's a graphic showing the (in)frequency of White Christmases in Philadelphia, put together by our colleagues in Alaska Region. pic.twitter.com/WpKc1WDhpK
— NWS Mount Holly (@NWS_MountHolly) December 9, 2022
I was 6 yrs old and can remember this snowstorm. It was a real Christmas to remember. I remember the different color Christmas lights shining really bright against the heavy snowfall. Looking out my front window on east cumberland street in phila.pa
That was a wonderful Christmas. My son was born on Christmas Day 1966. Best present I ever had!