Spokane won’t have a White Christmas in 2020. How often does that happen, anyway?

Meteorologists are confident this year won’t bring a white Christmas morning, though Spokane’s only predicted snow of the week should fall Christmas night.

“As people wake up the day after Christmas on Saturday, looks like there will be snow on the ground,” said Steven Van Horn, meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Spokane.

Van Horn said to expect 1 to 2 inches of snow across Eastern Washington into North Idaho.

After snow comes through, the area will dry out for the most part, with potential lingering showers in the Idaho Panhandle into Sunday morning, Van Horn said.

Since 1893, as far back as the National Weather Service’s records go in Spokane, there have been 41 Christmas Days when it snowed and 66 with at least an inch of snow on the ground, Van Horn said.

This week will bring normal temperatures for the time of year, with highs in the 30s and lows dipping into the mid-20s, Van Horn said.

“We’re kind of stuck in this pattern where we have these dry periods and then progressive patterns that bring in warmer air,” Van Horn said. “For snow, we like to see systems drop down out of Canada.”

Van Horn pointed to predictions that this winter will be especially snowy, though that has not yet come to pass.