Cold enough for snow to hold and wet enough for it to fall, over late December and early January. Of 365 towns and cities that draw visitors in North America, 25 rate Good or better at Christmas. These ten are the best of them, spread across the region.
Where to go
- 162 · GoodRochesterMinnesota, United States
A typical midday at Christmas feels like −10°C; the Snow rating puts it at 62. The snowy spell here lasts about two and a half months, from December to mid February. Open it on the map at late December.
- 261 · GoodDuluthMinnesota, United States
Midday at Christmas feels like −12°C, and the Snow rating averages 61, Good. The snowy spell here lasts about three and a half months, from late November to February. See late December on the map.
- 361 · GoodSteamboat SpringsColorado, United States
A typical midday at Christmas feels like −9°C; the Snow rating puts it at 61. The snowy spell here lasts about two and a half months, from mid December to February. Open it on the map at late December.
- 460 · GoodKenoraCanada
Midday at Christmas feels like −18°C, and the Snow rating averages 60, Good. The snowy spell here lasts about three and a half months, from late November to February. See late December on the map.
- 560 · GoodQuebec CityCanada
A typical midday at Christmas feels like −11°C; the Snow rating puts it at 60. The snowy spell here lasts about three and a half months, from late November to early March. Open it on the map at late December.
- 659 · GoodSainte-AdèleCanada
Midday at Christmas feels like −10°C, and the Snow rating averages 59, Good. The snowy spell here lasts about three months, from December to February. See late December on the map.
- 758 · GoodHintonCanada
A typical midday at Christmas feels like −13°C; the Snow rating puts it at 58. The snowy spell here lasts about a month, from mid December to early January. Open it on the map at late December.
- 858 · GoodMagogCanada
Midday at Christmas feels like −10°C, and the Snow rating averages 58, Good. The snowy spell here lasts about two and a half months, from December to mid February. See late December on the map.
- 956 · GoodCanmoreCanada
A typical midday at Christmas feels like −14°C; the Snow rating puts it at 56. The snowy spell here lasts about a month, from mid December to early January. Open it on the map at late December.
- 1055 · GoodWhistlerCanada
Midday at Christmas feels like −5°C, and the Snow rating averages 55, Good. See late December on the map.
How this list is worked out
The data
Every figure comes from a decade of weather-station observations, blended into one typical year and read at midday, local solar time. Scores here are averaged from late December to early January; a city missing a reading for any part of that stretch is left out rather than scored on part of it.
The rating
Snow: Cold enough to hold snow with snowfall likely — a proxy, not measured depth. Least reliable in the mountains, where valley-floor stations under-read (see the note). A place is also left out when its typical readings contradict its own rating, for example a high score alongside frequent rain. Snow is a proxy: cold enough for snow to hold, with precipitation likely. It is not measured snow depth, and it is least reliable in mountains, where the weather stations sit on valley floors.
The spread
To keep one warm corner from filling the list, entries are at least 150 km apart, no more than three sit within 1,000 km of each other, and no more than three come from one country unless the list would otherwise run short.
Only places that draw visitors
Towns and cities with plenty of hotels, guest houses and holiday lets nearby for their size, or a great many of them in all, counted from Overture Maps Places, an open dataset. That keeps out places the weather favours but nobody travels to. Where two places share one resort or city, the one a visitor would name is kept.
The dotted links open the map at that place and time of year, on the same layer. The map remembers the time of day you last chose there; set it to midday to see these exact numbers.