PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) — Is there anything more magical than waking up on Christmas morning to a fresh blanket of white outside?

Well, if you’re dreaming of a white Christmas in the Philadelphia region, keep dreaming. Our chances are really low.

By definition, a white Christmas is defined as having at least an inch of snow on the ground.

But since 1950, we’ve only had eight of those in Philadelphia, the latest in 2009, 1998 and 1995.

Statistically, the chance of a white Christmas in the Poconos is 40%. But then it really drops as you head to the south — Lehigh Valley at 90%, Trenton 12%, Philadelphia, Wilmington, and the Jersey Shore are all less than 10%.

And this year, it’s even less than that because temperatures will be at or above average from Christmas Eve through the 28th.

So Cecily’s official forecast for Christmas: it’s not white, it’s mostly cloudy, seasonable highs in the mid to upper 40s.

There’s always next year!

A large film production studio in New Jersey is officially underway as construction has begun to revitalize 58 acres of land near the Bayonne Bridge.

Public officials and film industry executives took part in a groundbreaking ceremony for 1888 Studios, a motion picture and television production complex that will rise at the foot of Avenue A in Bayonne. The event took place inside a tent on the studio construction site, which had been a Texaco refinery that closed in the 1980’s.

Jersey Digs was the first outlet to report on the studio plan back in 2022. Bayonne passed a rezoning plan in 2020 for the land, which overlooks Staten Island and the Kill Van Kull.

Designed by San Francisco-based firm Gensler, 1888 Studios will consist of a mix of studio sound stage buildings complemented by attached office structures. The complex will include a post-production office and several mill buildings for stages to be constructed and stored.

The new facility will span 23 soundstages and more than one million square feet. The construction phase is expected to produce 2,300 union jobs and when the facility is complete and operational, it is expected to produce 2,000 union jobs.

Arpad Busson, the President of the 1888 Studios, said during the ceremony that the production complex “will reshape the city for generations to come” and would make Bayonne “a global connector.” Film powerhouse Paramount signed a 10-year agreement back in October to be the facility’s primary tenant.

Other aspects of the plan for 1888 Studios include a lighting and grip building, a central utility plant, a utility yard, a trash and recycling area, and a facilities yard to support the studio use, along with surface parking. Four subterranean parking structures would be built on the site, providing a total of 2,127 parking spaces.

Paramount’s Global Operations executive Jose Turkienicz attended the groundbreaking and called the studio complex “a major step forward” and a source of “creative momentum.” A former New Jersey resident, Turkienicz thanked the state’s public officials for supporting tax credit programs for the film industry in the Garden State.

Outgoing Governor Phil Murphy said that New Jersey has an “innovation economy,” which includes film and digital industries. He noted that New Jersey gets back $7 for each $1 invested in the film industry and lauded the state’s Film Ready program that prepares communities for the movie and television business.

Among the celebrities at the ceremony were model and businesswoman Elle Macpherson; Emmy Award-winning actress Tammy Blanchard, a Bayonne resident; Mark Lipsky, executive producer of such Eddie Murphy films as The Nutty Professor, Beverly Hills Cop II, and Coming to America; and actor and executive Paul DeAngelo, a Bayonne resident.

1888 Studios is one of three major film production facilities under construction in New Jersey, with Lionsgate breaking ground recently on a studio in Newark and Netflix building another facility at Fort Monmouth.