VALDOSTA, Ga. — If you’re dreaming of a white Christmas, dream on, because forecasters say Lowndes County is unlikely to need to fire up the snow plows.

Santa Claus can expect warm, dry conditions when he makes his annual delivery run the night of Dec. 24, said Dan Dynowski, senior meteorologist for the private forecasting firm AccuWeather. 

Highs around Valdosta will be in the un-North Pole-like upper 60s on the 24th and even warmer, in the 70s, on Christmas Day, he said.

That’s not to say there won’t be any precipitation this week; forecasters say it will be rain instead of the white stuff.

A series of cold fronts will begin moving through South Georgia Monday, bringing increased rain chances, said Genie McDermott, meteorologist for the National Weather Service’s Tallahassee, Fla., office.

Temperatures should warm up ahead of each cold front, with a cool down in each front’s wake, she said.

The weather service expects the best chance of rain Monday at 70 percent, tapering off to 30 percent daily for the rest of the week.

Valdosta’s high was expected to top out near 80 Sunday, with highs in the aftermath of the first cool front dropping to about 60 Monday, according to the weather service forecast.

Rain chances were expected to climb again Thursday, Dynowski said, as the next front moves through. Highs should rise to about 70 as warm air gets shoved through ahead of the front.

Neither forecaster saw much of a chance of severe weather in the next week — or snow.

“Not likely,” Dynowski said.

Terry Richards is senior reporter at The Valdosta Daily Times.