Traditionally, meteorologists consider at least an inch of snow on Dec. 25 to be a “white Christmas.” Most north Jefferson County residents ignored that by getting out and celebrating the white stuff, even though most local communities only got about a third of an inch, according to The Weather Channel’s weather.com.

It was probably worth celebrating, considering snow rarely comes on Christmas for north Jefferson; weather.com doesn’t even have a record precipitation on file for Dec. 25 in Gardendale.

Our neighbors in the Magic City almost got their inch of snow and their first white Christmas ever, according to Bill Murray, a contributor to the ABC 33/40 weather blog, but missed it by mere tenths of an inch. Murray was projecting half an inch to an inch for central Alabama and two to three inches for the northeast part of the state.

Many roads across the state were treacherous and icy over the weekend, and state crews actually got out on Christmas Day to sand major roads and highways.

On Monday, Brian Peters, another contributor to ABC’s weather blog, said a blanket of clouds was keeping central Alabama in the 20s, but the weather should begin warming up today and through the rest of the week. He predicts there may be rain on Thursday, and that January may also begin wet. Otherwise, the beginning of 2011 will be milder than December has been.