Christmas in Paducah by the numbers: warm and wet

Christmas weather this year is pretty standard by the numbers compiled by the National Weather Service.

Today's high of 52 degrees falls right into the middle range for the holiday historically. Almost two-thirds of all Christmas Days have had highs in the 30s, 40s or 50s. Paducah's historical high for this date is 44 degrees.

Only three times has Paducah's Christmas high reached 70 degrees, all within the past decade: 74 in 2021, 71 in 2016 and 70 in 2019.

Conversely, the two times that Paducah's low fell into the teens were both in the 80s: 12 in 1983, and 19 in 1985. Our historical low for this date is 27.

Today's 50% chance for rain is not quite as common: measurable precipitation has fallen just 29 percent of the time on Christmas. Paducah's wettest Christmas occurred in 1987, with 3.87 inches of rain.

It hasn't snowed for Christmas in Paducah since 2017, when a trace was measured. A trace of snow also fell in 2012, 2010 and 2009.

In 2022, there was already 2 previous inches of snow on the ground by Christmas morning.