Noticeable Lack of Snow for Areas East of the High Plains

Despite the major winter weather event that unleashed snowfall measured in feet across portions of New Mexico and Colorado last week, many northern areas of the country are still free of snow. Here is a deeper dive into the average snow cover across the U.S. this week as well as when you can expect the flakes to start flying.

Where is the Snow?

When looking at a current snow map, there are virtually no spots of the white stuff anywhere east of the High Plains. Although it is not unusual for the Midwest and the Northeast to be free of snow this early in the season, it is rare that even the far northern reaches of the country have not seen any winter weather by the middle of November.

As of early in the week, nearly all of the Lower 48 states located to the east of Colorado had no snow on the ground. The one exception to this rule is a tiny bit of snow covering the ground in northeastern Minnesota.

Colorado has the greatest amount of snow cover by a wide margin. Wyoming and New Mexico are also seeing a large part of their land masses covered in snow at this time. Parts of Idaho, Washington, Montana, Utah are under a thick blanket of snow. Lastly, a small part of Northern California and Arizona also have measurable snow on the ground.

Some parts of the northern U.S. are already in a snow deficit. For instance, Marquette, Michigan is running about 10 inches behind the normal snow pace by the middle of November. The city has only picked up about an inch of snow thus far when a Halloween storm sent the flakes flying.

Other major cities that have typically experienced measurable snow by this point in the season are Buffalo and Syracuse, New York. Both of these cities are still waiting for their first shot of winter weather.

The average first snowfall for the northern Plains has already passed. For example, both Fargo, North Dakota and Rapid City, South Dakota typically see the first snow of the season by Halloween. Neither city has picked up any measurable accumulation thus far.

The latest data out of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) indicates that the snow cover across the country as a whole on Veterans Day was the fourth least dating back to 2010. This statistic would have gone back even farther in time if it was not for the blockbuster snow event that buried parts of Colorado and New Mexico last week.