Brown Christmas in Store for Apple Valley

Even if you can find a snowflake or two remaining from the most recent dusting of snow in Apple Valley, that doesn't necessarily qualify as the white Christmas we're conditioned to dream about.

According to the National Weather Service, an area must have an inch of snow on the ground at 6 a.m. Dec. 25 to have a white Christmas; so in Apple Valley and the Twin Cities, we're looking at a brown Christmas this year. 

Even though it might be less idyllic than we'd like, it's actually not that rare. The last brown Christmas was in 2006, according to the NWS.

We get white Christmases 72 percent of the time, according to the Minnesota Climatology Office.

Meteorologist Paul Douglas blogged for the Star Tribune about some of the historical Christmas and winter weather trends in the Twin Cities.

He wrote that the Cities generally are looking at temperatures in the upper 30s on Christmas day, and to expect "Novemberlike" weather into early January.

Out of town and want to see what the ground looks like near your house? Check traffic cameras from throughout the cities, set up by the Minnesota Department of Transportation.