Snow present in 49 of the 50 U.S. states
January 11th, 2011
04:38 PM ET

Snow present in 49 of the 50 U.S. states

After big snow and ice events in the Southeast, Plains, and Midwest this week, 49 out of the 50 states currently have snow on the ground -  yes, even Hawaii, where snow falls in Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea all winter. 

The only state that has avoided this icy blast is Florida.  Does that make you want to go on a nice, warm vacation to the Sunshine State?  You're not alone.

Put another way, that means snow is present in 69.4 percent of the lower 48, which is more than double than December.  This is extremely unusual, though it's hard to put a date on when this last happened because records aren't kept on this kind of event.

The National Operational Hydrologic Remote Sensing Center combines ground reports and images from satellites in space to determine how much of the country is covered in snow.  That's what you see in the image above.  The images tell how deep and widespread the snow is, and that's important not only for images like this one, but also for computer weather models, which use the data to generate accurate forecasts. Such forecasts were very useful in predicting this week's winter storms.

Earlier this week, two storms began to churn: one in the northern Plains and Midwest, and one in Texas.  The southern winter storm took a track across the Gulf Coast, pulling warm, moist air over an extreme arctic blast that set up over the eastern half of the United States late last week.  This provided fuel for the storm to carve a path of snow, sleet, and freezing rain from Texas to the Carolinas. 

Here in Atlanta, we're still coated in snow and ice and probably will be for the next couple of days.  No one in the Southeast escaped the wrath except, of course, Florida.

But it's not over.  Now that the southern-track storm has moved into the Atlantic and is moving north, the other Midwest storm is going to merge with it, creating a Nor'easter event that could dump up to two feet of snow in the Northeast.  Winter storm warnings and advisories have been posted for the event - 32 states have winter storm advisories issued, by the way.

Here's how the snow forecast breaks down for some major cities:

Washington DC: 2-4 inches
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: 4-6 inches
New York, N.Y.: 6-12 inches
Hartford, Connecticut: 15-20 inches
Boston, Massachusetts: 12-16 inches

The snow and cold started early this winter and has been extreme for most of the country.  Usually the Southeast avoids the blast, but not in 2011.  We're all feeling a little "snowed in" this winter.

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Filed under: Weather • Winter weather
soundoff (695 Responses)
  1. Justin

    I guess Mother Nature don't care about how many people are driving these days...co2 emission showed little effect. Bring on more snow!

    January 12, 2011 at 11:56 am | Report abuse |
  2. TheJester1977

    "This is extremely unusual, though it's hard to put a date on when this last happened because records aren't kept on this kind of event."

    Umm, how about last winter? There was a day or two when all 50 states (yes, even Florida) had snow on the ground... I would have to dig through my Facebook posts to find the exact date, but I remember posting about it! Wow, way to keep up with things there folks...

    January 12, 2011 at 12:00 pm | Report abuse |
  3. Matt West

    Reading these comments it quickly becomes clear that some need a climate change crash course. Here are some links that offer just that:

    Primer on CO2 and other GHGs
    http://thegreenmarket.blogspot.com/2009/06/primer-on-co2-and-other-ghgs.html
    The Effects of Global Warming
    http://thegreenmarket.blogspot.com/2009/06/effects-of-global-warming.html
    Debunking CO2 Myths and The Science of Climate Change
    http://thegreenmarket.blogspot.com/2009/06/debunking-co2-myths-and-science-of.html
    Green Dissent (Part 1)
    http://thegreenmarket.blogspot.com/2008/06/at-press-conference-hosted-by.html
    Green Dissent (Part 2)
    http://thegreenmarket.blogspot.com/2008/06/green-dissent-part-2.html
    How to get Through to Climate Change Deniers
    http://thegreenmarket.blogspot.com/2010/03/how-to-get-through-to-climate-change.html
    Climate Change is an Economic and a Security Issue
    http://thegreenmarket.blogspot.com/2010/10/climate-change-is-security-issue.html

    January 12, 2011 at 12:05 pm | Report abuse |
  4. Gabby

    Can you even count Texas? I mean look at it. The amount of snow we got is probably less in proportion than Hawaii. lol I'm just saying.

    January 12, 2011 at 12:06 pm | Report abuse |
  5. LaCajun

    I think it's interesting that people seem to want to belittle others on here simply based upon the notion that all people from the south are uneducated and ignorant. Just because someone has a piece of paper showing they have a degree doesn't mean that person is more intelligent. Some of the wisest people are those with years of experience as opposed to a formal education...of course there's always going to be exceptions.

    One thing that I wonder, and if someone has the answer let me know, is why do scientists (who believe in global warming) seem to assume that everything in the history of the world happened at the same pace or rate? Is it not possible that the weather we are experiencing now might have well occurred 500 or 1000 years ago? I'm not saying I disagree entirely with all scientific studies on weather and the earth itself. What I am saying is consistent and accurate records of weather have not been kept until the last 100-150 years. So, how do we then know, with absolute certainty, that something that is occurring today might not have already occurred before and what we are experiencing now is simply a normal cycle? It appears that it is spun to give the illusion that this is the first time this has ever happened, when in all likelihood it is not. I have no problem with people presenting theories or ideas to explain something. However, don't present it as a fact when in all reality, it is merely just a theory.

    January 12, 2011 at 12:06 pm | Report abuse |
  6. Matt West

    Reading these comments it quickly becomes clear that some need a climate change crash course. Here are some links that do just that:

    Primer on CO2 and other GHGs
    http://thegreenmarket.blogspot.com/2009/06/primer-on-co2-and-other-ghgs.html
    The Effects of Global Warming
    http://thegreenmarket.blogspot.com/2009/06/effects-of-global-warming.html
    Debunking CO2 Myths and The Science of Climate Change
    http://thegreenmarket.blogspot.com/2009/06/debunking-co2-myths-and-science-of.html
    Green Dissent (Part 1)
    http://thegreenmarket.blogspot.com/2008/06/at-press-conference-hosted-by.html
    Green Dissent (Part 2)
    http://thegreenmarket.blogspot.com/2008/06/green-dissent-part-2.html
    How to get Through to Climate Change Deniers
    http://thegreenmarket.blogspot.com/2010/03/how-to-get-through-to-climate-change.html
    Climate Change is an Economic and a Security Issue
    http://thegreenmarket.blogspot.com/2010/10/climate-change-is-security-issue.html

    January 12, 2011 at 12:07 pm | Report abuse |
  7. Hockey Fan

    Wow... people can't read. These comments are highly amusing. The article specifically says that Hawaii DOES HAVE SNOW. Therefore, yes, 49 of the 50 states have snow. 47 of the 48 contiguous states have snow. The other statistic states that "snow is present in 69.4 percent of the lower 48." Not that 47 of 48 states equals 69.4%. In other words, 69.4% of the entire country (excluding Hawaii and Alaska) is covered in snow. So sad that news articles are written on an elementary school level and yet still misunderstood by so many.

    January 12, 2011 at 12:07 pm | Report abuse |
    • DanO

      I'm reading through these comments and having a laugh attack, I'm glad your just as frustrated with people's abilities to read as I am hahahaha

      January 12, 2011 at 12:42 pm | Report abuse |
  8. Northwesterner

    I've studied climate change for years, these cold and warm weather events of the past years are all a part of Global Climate Change. As the atmosphere warms, different regions and climates will be impacted differently. Some areas will receive more water (rain, snow, etc) during the cold months, and scorching heat during the warm months. Further, these events take place over time (decades), with smaller events (year to year timescales) having different peaks of cold and hot climate shifts. The science is there, and these extreme cold patterns (winter), and hotter summers will only worsen. Florida may be the only state without snow, but with global climate change, their hurricanes will get worse over time.

    January 12, 2011 at 12:14 pm | Report abuse |
  9. Floridian

    Hello from Florida! ^-^

    January 12, 2011 at 12:17 pm | Report abuse |
  10. Wildone

    The global warming pundants would claim that all this cold and snow is due to global warming. If we were having a warm and no-snow winter, would it be equated to global cooling?

    January 12, 2011 at 12:19 pm | Report abuse |
  11. will it snow!

    Hey Aaron.... You stated that the planet has not experienced warming like this for hundreds of thousands of years and it's clear that human beings are responsible . Tell me what human beings did back then to cause that warming trend? Should we wait until somebody on the news tells you what next to say. Brainless !!!!

    January 12, 2011 at 12:20 pm | Report abuse |
  12. Paralegal

    Shouldn't it be "Snow in 48 States"? There is no mention of Hawaii having now nor Florida. Maybe they added a new state?

    January 12, 2011 at 12:20 pm | Report abuse |
    • Hockey Fan

      Hawaii is mentioned in the very first sentence. Read much?

      January 12, 2011 at 12:23 pm | Report abuse |
  13. Paul

    it's interesting that people often quote Hockey stick science without looking where the data comes from that first brought the idea of global warming to the public. We only have temperature records for the last 50 to 75 years, before that they used tree ring size to estimate average temperature without taking into account other effects like a hot dry summer would cause smaller tree rings which were then interpreted as cooler year giving very wrong information. For the environmental scientist that commented, check your sources! An interesting perspective on the whole Global warming issue can be found at http://www.wattsupwiththat.com

    January 12, 2011 at 12:29 pm | Report abuse |
  14. Andrea M

    Really? As a Coloradan I'm used to snow and this year is abnormally DRY for us. It wasn't until this week that we actually saw a legit snow storm in Denver. Sure, we'd had a dusting here and an inch there, but we didn't get a proper 4+ inch storm until this last sunday! On the other hand, our mountains have been getting HAMMERED this year making for wonderful skiing and boarding. Snow is staying just where we like it!

    January 12, 2011 at 12:30 pm | Report abuse |
  15. Andrea M

    No actually, I have home-brewed coffee to drink. My neighborhood is extremely light on sbux or any coffee shops really, but we DO have a bar with $5 liters of mimosa, so we got it where it counts. Now my libby rear is going to continue reading the news while slurping my cup of folgers. Yeah, that's right, not even Whole Paycheck free trade stuff.

    January 12, 2011 at 12:33 pm | Report abuse |
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