INDIANA, USA — Move over white Christmases, let's talk about a white Thanksgiving. What is the chance for snow on Thanksgiving Day for central Indiana? This can include new snow or old snowpack leftover.
Tap HERE for the latest snow forecast for central Indiana.
2024: There is a growing chance for some snow on Wednesday night into Thanksgiving Thursday across Indiana, especially north of I-70.
Thanksgiving snow stats
(Note: These snow statistics are for Indianapolis, which has the most robust collection of historical snowfall and snow depth information for the state of Indiana.)
- Chance of rain or snow for Thanksgiving Day: 56%
- Chance for measurable snowfall on Thanksgiving Day (old or new snowpack): 7%
- Chance for some snow flurries on Thanksgiving Day (trace): 21%
In general, the chance for a white Thanksgiving is low. There have been a few notable years when Turkey day was pretty snowy for central Indiana.
- Last time we had a white Thanksgiving (1"+ on the ground): 1975
- The biggest fresh snow we had on Thanksgiving Day was 2.4 inches back in 1902
We have had bigger snows in November before, but they have not happened much on Thanksgiving Day. Maybe we are ready to change that?
RELATED: The chance for snow on Thanksgiving Day is increasing for Indiana | Live Doppler 13 Weather Blog
Thanksgivings in the 2000s
We took a closer look at the Thanksgivings for the past 23 years.
- Normal turkey: it was mild and not snowy
- White turkey: there were flurries or some leftover snow on the ground (but we still got warm at some point that day)
- Blue turkey: temperatures stayed below 40 degrees
- Blue turkey: it was cold all day and there was some snow.
The most recent "snow" Thanksgiving was in 2014. We picked up 0.1" of snow and the high temperature was only 31 degrees.
— 13News Meteorologist Matt Standridge