Did you know that the odds of having a white Christmas in the Netherlands is only 7% every year?
A white Christmas (‘witte Kerst’ in Dutch) has only occured 8 times since 1901, the year our country started keeping track of snow during Christmas.
According to the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI) a white Christmas is defined as having a complete covering of snow at the KNMI headquarters in De Bilt on both Christmas Days. The probability of a local white Christmas is therefore higher than a national white Christmas.
White Christmas in the Netherlands
Below is an overview of the years with a white Chistmas and the amount of snow that went with it.
| Year | Snow depth |
|---|---|
| 1906 | 10 cm |
| 1938 | 13 cm |
| 1940 | 4 cm |
| 1950 | 6 cm |
| 1964 | 5-10 cm |
| 1981 | 11-20 cm |
| 2009 | 4-9 cm |
| 2010 | 5 cm |
Over the past 116 years there were 21 Christmas days when only a light and/or local snowfall was reported, like the 10 cm layer of snow in the eastern part of the Netherlands in 1986.
photo: Rowin van Diest
