Snowless Thanksgiving is a normal holiday situation in La Crosse

The historic odds are against getting much snow in La Crosse for this Thanksgiving weekend.

The National Weather Service in La Crosse publishes statistics for weather at the holiday, dating back to 1872. Forecasters say there has been snow on the ground for Thanksgiving in La Crosse only four times in the past 30 years, and measurable snow has fallen only once on the actual holiday during that period, happening in 2015. The recent snowless spell compares to the 37 per cent of times when the city has had snow on the grass for Thanksgiving since the 1890’s.

However, during the 1990’s, there were three times when La Crosse had 3 or more inches on the ground by Thanksgiving Day. That includes 1991, when the region was hit by a blizzard on Halloween, and snow continued to pile up through November. The 15 inches of snow on the ground that Thanksgiving is still a La Crosse record for the holiday.

A year ago, La Crosse had a high of 39 when Thanksgiving fell on November 23rd, and there was no snow on the ground.