Oil from damaged Russian tankers has contaminated beaches in Crimea, with significant environmental cleanup efforts underway.

Just under 2 inches of new snow fell the entire month, making it one of the least snowy on record. Last season was the second snowiest on record. The winter of 2011-12 set the record for the city’s snowiest. A few winters later, Kutz said, “we dropped down to minimum snow.”

Anchorage experienced an unusually low-snow December in 2024, with only 1.9 inches recorded, contrasting sharply with the heavy snowfall of the previous year and creating ideal conditions for ice skating but challenging ones for skiing.

An unusually low snowfall has left green grass visible on Anchorage's hillside, making for an atypical non-white Christmas in Alaska.