Raise your hand if you’ve ever dreamed of having a white Christmas in Austin. ✋

You might be dreaming for a while. Believe it or not, Christmas Day snow has never been recorded in Austin, barring a trace amount on one fateful day in the 1930s.

Austinites know Christmas Day weather is a toss-up: it could be like last year’s balmy 78º day, or it could be like this year, reaching near-freezing temperatures.

We dug into weather data to see what the holiday has historically felt like in ATX.

A wide range

The average weather on Dec. 25 in Austin is:

High of 60º
Low of 45º
15% chance of rain

But “average” is just that — an average. In reality, here’s what the range looks like, based on historical data for Christmas Day:

Hottest Christmas: High of 90º recorded in 1955
- Fun fact: Last year’s unusually warm Christmas was the fifth-warmest in ATX history — people were spotted paddle boarding on Lady Bird Lake.
Coldest Christmas: Low of 10º at night (and a high of 25º during the day) recorded in 1983
Rainiest Christmas: 1.52 inches recorded in 2000 (For context, the wettest day in Austin in 2022 brought down 3.73 inches of rain.)

In the last decade, Christmas Day high temperatures have ranged from 47º-82º. | Graph by ATXtoday, data sourced from Weather Underground.

What to expect this year

Get ready for a chillier holiday than normal this year, due to an arctic blast expected to blow through Central Texas on Thursday.

Temperatures are expected to plummet into the teens by Friday morning, with an expected high of 13º in Travis County. Taking wind chill into account, it may feel as cold as 3º. Take these steps to protect your plumbing, plants, and pets.

This cold snap is expected to last between 48-72 hours, and bring no precipitation. The weather should warm back up by Christmas Eve, with Christmas Day temperatures ranging between 31º and 49º.