How much of a chance does Centre County have for a white Christmas?

Those who are hoping for a white Christmas on Tuesday might be out of luck — but at least weather conditions should be good for those planning to travel.

Whether or not the State College area has snow on the ground come Christmas Day, according to AccuWeather senior meteorologist Tom Kines, will depend on how much snow is dumped from Sunday’s night’s storm system that’s expected to hit the Northeastern United States.

“Starting at some point later in the day Sunday, there could be a little bit of snow, maybe enough to cover the ground,” he said. “It won’t be a whole lot, but if you’re traveling Sunday night, it might be something to keep an eye on.”

AccuWeather is predicting rain or a snow shower Sunday afternoon, turning into evening snow with an expected accumulation of about an inch. The National Weather Service is calling for less than an inch, with the chance of evening precipitation at 50 percent.

Temperatures are then expected to be above freezing Monday and Tuesday, meaning any snow the State College area does get on Sunday could be melted by Tuesday.

As for Christmas Day — things are expected to be pretty dry.

“If you’re rooting for a white Christmas, you got to hope that system later Sunday or Sunday night deposits enough snow to whiten the ground. If that doesn’t do it, then we’re probably not going to have one,” Kines said.

While some might be disappointed to not have a white Christmas, others might be relieved not to have to deal with weather woes while traveling over the holidays.

With relatively good weather expected and national gas prices near the lowest they’ve been all year, millions of people are expected to be on the roads this weekend.

The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission expected last Thursday and Friday to have been the most heavily traveled days, with 675,000 vehicle on the road each day. The lightest travel days are projected to be Dec. 29, with about 350,000 vehicles, followed by Dec. 25 and 30 with about 410,000 vehicles each day.

“Typically, the Christmas through New Year holiday is among the busiest long-distance travel periods of the year, with 90 percent of travel occurring by car,” Pa. Turnpike Commission CEO Mark Compton said in a release.

For those traveling after Christmas, ahead of the new year, Kines warned of a storm system by the Great Lakes that might cause issues for those heading out west.

“It’s going to be a rather strong storm that’s going to affect a large area, even though it’s rain sometimes that can cause delays at airports,” he said.

But overall, Kines said the latter half of the week should be as dry for the State College area as the first half.