If you are looking forward to a white Christmas, there’s always next year.

Local weather forecasters say the prospects of a white Christmas—which is defined as having at least an inch of snow on the ground on Dec. 25—are looking bleak at this moment.

That means we probably are heading for a brown Christmas in Inver Grove Heights and elsewhere in the Twin Cities metropolitan area, something that happens about 28 percent of the time, according to Paul Douglas’ weather blog Thursday on startribune.com.

Douglas is predicting that high temperatures on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day will be 30 to 35 degrees, which is above average for this time of year.

Dave Dahl, on kstp.com, isn’t optimistic about the chances of a white Christmas, either. He predicts that the metro area could receive a couple inches of snow Thursday of next week, but that might be all.

“It doesn’t look like a lot at this point, but it is worth watching again because changes are always possible,” Dahl wrote in his blog Thursday.

Inver Grove Heights residents awoke to icy conditions Thursday morning, with slick streets and sidewalks. The slipping and sliding continued through the morning hours, as sidewalks around Inver Glen Library required salting around noon.

The unseasonably mild weather is predicted to continue Saturday for Inver Grove Height’s Holiday of Main Street party. Sunny skies and a high of 33 are forecasted.