Dreaming of a white Christmas in Bellingham? What experts say about snow chances
As you lay out milk and cookies for Santa Claus, you may find yourself dashing to the nearest window to watch for snow.
The Bellingham area is experiencing chilly, wet weather, prompting dreams of a white Christmas.
“A white Christmas is defined as having 1 inch or more of snow on the ground Christmas morning,” the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said on its website.
Has Bellingham ever had a white Christmas? And how likely is snow to fall on the holiday in 2025?
Here’s what to know:
Will Bellingham have a white Christmas in 2025?
Although snow is in the forecast for Bellingham, the area likely won’t see a white Christmas in 2025, according to Anna Lindeman, a forecaster for the National Weather Service’s Seattle office.
“There is potential for snow to be falling, but we are not forecasting accumulation,” Lindeman told The Bellingham Herald.
“We’re not expecting it to stick,” Lindeman told The Herald in a separate phone call. “It’s not looking like a white Christmas.”
Some of the higher hills around Bellingham could see snow, however, as overnight temperatures are expected to fall below freezing, dropping the snow level to about 2,000 feet, according to an online briefing from the weather service.
There was a dusting on snow on Stewart Mountain above Lake Whatcom on Monday morning.
Has Bellingham ever seen snow on Christmas?
Bellingham last saw snow on Christmas in 2021, when the city received an inch of snowfall, The Bellingham Herald previously reported.
The same storm dropped 3 inches to a foot of snow on parts of lowland Whatcom County.
Bellingham also saw a dusting of snow around Christmastime in 2002, although the city didn’t quite get an inch.
Olympia and the rest of Western Washington has a 12% chance of receiving at least an inch of snow on Christmas morning, according to historical data from NOAA’S National Climatic Data Center.
What’s in the weather forecast for Bellingham?
Bellingham was expected to be partly sunny on Tuesday, Dec. 23, with a high temperature of 46 degrees and a 20% chance of rain between 10 and 11 a.m., according to the National Weather Service’s latest seven-day forecast..
Tuesday night should be mostly cloudy, with a low temperature around 36 degrees, the weather service said.
When will rain start in Whatcom County?
Rain will start falling in the Bellingham area on Wednesday, Dec. 24, mainly before 4 p.m., the weather service said.
There’s an 80% chance of precipitation during the day on Christmas Eve, with a 10th to a quarter of an inch of new rainfall possible. Chances for rain drop to 40% overnight.
Winds could gust as high as 28 mph on Wednesday, when the high will be near 47 and the low will be around 35.
Thursday, Dec. 25 — Christmas Day — will be mostly cloudy with a high near 44 and a low around 36, according to the weather service.
As of Monday, Bellingham had a 14% chance of seeing the official definition of a white Christmas, according to The National Weather Service.
After several days in December with highs above 50, “Temperatures look to trend cooler going into Christmas with the potential for light Fraser River outflow,” the weather service said online. “Lowering snow levels may allow for some mixed precipitation and light snowfall accumulations during the early morning hours on Christmas.”
The weather service said the best chances for snow “will be for the northern foothills and mountain valleys, as well as western Whatcom County.”
A Fraser outflow is the kind of weather phenomenon that produces lowland snow in Western Washington when conditions are cold enough and wet enough.
The weather service’s forecast calls for a “slight chance of rain and snow” on Friday, Dec. 26, when the high will near 43 and the low will drop to around 34.
Bellingham will also see chances of rain and snow on Saturday and Sunday, when highs will be in the mid-40s and lows will be in the mid- to high 30s.
This story was originally published December 23, 2025 at 5:00 AM.