Only in Beaufort: Remembering the historic White Christmas

Christmas songs about the weather, for Beaufortonians, are largely foreign and irrelevant. The weather outside is hardly frightful.

There's generally no need for an open fire on which to roast something. This year, it wasn't even cold outside, baby. For the 26th consecutive year, there was no snow on Christmas.

The White Christmas of 1989 thus keeps its prominent place in the history books. Each year, fewer people remain who were there to see it. It happened, though, and until it happens again, it will only grow in legend.

Snow and Beaufort have a strange relationship. In our subtropical climate, we don't necessarily expect it, but it does occur, on average, a couple of times every decade. It snowed in 1973, 1980 and then, magically, nine years later. The 1989 snowfall is still remembered precisely because it happened at Christmas, when the gift of 3 to 8 inches was left on everyone's doorstep on Christmas Eve.

Memories become fuzzy over time. Some of us will one day recall that period as one of skating on frozen ponds and improbably skiing down Beaufort's slopes.

In reality, it allowed us a brief moment to play football in the snow, build snowmen and cautiously venture onto the non-native substance to take pictures for posterity. It was easy to forget about opening presents and tending to the ham and turkey when there was snow outside.

Of course, 1989 also brought Hurricane Hugo. The snow on Christmas was a welcomed weather event, but if it's always paired with Category 4 storms, we'll be happier without either.

Believe it or not, snow was predicted for the week of Dec. 22 through 27 this year, according to the Old Farmer's Almanac. Though obviously imprecise, this year we simply had other appreciable weather phenomena. The fog, for example, was heavy enough to obscure the Beaufort River for drivers heading over the bridges on Christmas Eve. Its eeriness was compounded by the swampy heat. It felt less like Christmas and more like traveling through a Louisiana bayou in July.

We also enjoyed the first full moon at Christmas since 1977, an even longer drought than the snow. It's not expected to happen again until 2034, which is good news for those with young children.

But it's not full moons people write songs about.

So until a new song is written celebrating winter humidity or another Christmas brings snow, let's enjoy what we have. No Beaufort shops make a living selling snow shovels or tire chains. A shortage on antifreeze or kerosene is no cause for concern here.

You have to think there's some poor family in Vermont who would love to put on shorts and flip-flops and work up a good Christmas sweat for a change. Unless you're willing to trade places, keep doing as Bing Crosby suggests and just dream of another White Christmas.

Ryan Copeland is a Beaufort native. He can be reached at rlcopeland@hargray.com.

This story was originally published December 31, 2015 at 11:30 AM with the headline "Only in Beaufort: Remembering the historic White Christmas."