[ThePadawan]

> 20 years ago it was unusual not to have snow for Christmas and New Year.

This is one of those widely spread Mandela effect-style misconceptions.

The chances of a white Christmas in the UK are around 10%, and depending where you are in the US [0], especially if you consider the population density not pictured in that chart, even lower.

Humans generally hugely overestimate how often a white Christmas actually happens due to selection bias.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Christmas_(weather)#/med...

[kergonath]

> The chances of a white Christmas in the UK are around 10%, and depending where you are in the US [0], especially if you consider the population density not pictured in that chart, even lower.

Why do you assume the OP is in the UK or US? We’re discussing climate and weather in the Alps; there are plenty of places in Europe where a white Christmas really was not unusual.

[ThePadawan]

The probabilities in Germany are around 12.5% and around 40% in Switzerland itself [0].

To live anywhere where to quote OP "it [would be] unusual not to have snow for Christmas and New Year" would basically mean living in a skiable country itself, so I did do a lot of assuming there.

But then I don't ski. I wouldn't know if skiers take vacations around the world to see different snow.

[0] https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wei%C3%9Fe_Weihnachten_(Wetter...