Boulder County residents won't have to dream of a White Christmas.

The white stuff — perhaps as much as 10 inches of it — should be covering the ground on Christmas Day, though it likely won't be quite as pristine three days from now.

A pre-Christmas winter storm is expected to drop two to four inches of snow overnight and another one to three inches Wednesday morning in the Boulder area, according to the National Weather Service. By the end of Wednesday, total accumulation could reach five to 10 inches.

The snow is expected to stop by Christmas Eve, but with low overnight temperatures and highs just above freezing, most of it should still be around Friday.

Having snow on the ground on Christmas Day isn't too unusual. Boulder meteorologist Matt Kelsch said there's been at least one inch of snow on the ground on 18 of the last 30 Christmases.

Having actual snowfall on Christmas is much rarer. That's happened just seven times in the last 30 years, Kelsch said.

Camera weather historian Bill Callahan said snow falls on Christmas in the Denver metro area just 10 percent of the time. The snowiest Christmas on record was 2007, with 5.9 inches in Boulder.

Eldora Mountain Resort spokesman Rob Linde said snow in Boulder always brings people out to ski.

“Anytime it snows in Boulder, people get in the mood to ski,” he said. “It would be a Merry Christmas for us if there was snow on the ground in Boulder.”

The weather is less merry for travelers. The massive storm system, coming on the heels of a blizzard that snarled travel on the East Coast, reaches from Arizona to Chicago and already has been blamed for several deaths.

Crews at Denver International Airport plan to work through the night to limit the impact on one of the busiest travel days of the Christmas season.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.