Central Alabama may be in for a historic White Christmas.

Mark Rose, meteorologist with the National Weather Service office in Calera, said Wednesday morning it appears the only question about snow on Saturday is whether it will accumulate—and the best chance of that happening in Alabama is between Birmingham and Montgomery.

“We are pretty confident we’re going to see snow on Christmas day,” Rose said. “If there’s any accumulation, I would say probably a half inch.

“Sometimes we get these snowstorms that favor the southern part of the state. This is one of those.”

According to NWS, Birmingham hasn’t seen a White Christmas in about 100 years, as far back as records exist. Flurries dusted some areas in 1985, but the snow wasn’t deep enough to measure.

Montgomery hasn’t had snow on Christmas since 1919, though a trace amount of snow was observed on Christmas Eve in 1962.

NWS has no records for Chilton County or surrounding areas specifically earlier than the early 1990s, when the Calera observation office opened.

Precipitation on Saturday would likely occur from late morning through the evening.

The temperature is forecasted to be above freezing, so Rose said there should be no problems with roadways during the day.

“Once the sun sets on Saturday, the temperature will be below freezing by 9 o’clock. If there’s any moisture left on roads and bridges, that’s my concern,” Rose said.

Highs should be in the 50s on Thursday and Friday but in the mid-30s on Sunday, with 15-25 mph winds.