U.S. Snow Cover In Early November Is the Lowest In Over A Decade

According to The Weather Channel, only 1% of the land area within the United States had snow on the ground on the morning of Election Day 2016, which is the lowest extent of snow cover on November 8th in over a decade. This horrible start to the winter season can be attributed to unseasonably warm temperatures, a storm track that was recently diverted into Canada, and when storms do arrive, the warm temperatures are pushing the snow levels up in elevation.

The current snow coverage map is not looking good, the only snow that can be found is in the west and anywhere east of that, it’s hard to find, but there is a little in northern New Hampshire and northwestern Maine. A lot of the snow in the west is attributed to ski resorts making snow, even some peaks in the western Rockies lack any snow coverage at all. Recently, we reached the halfway point of the fall season, yet most of the country hasn’t seen a flake of snowfall, but it’s not that unusual.

Typically, only about 7.6% of the United States has snow on the ground on November 8th, but this year is the lowest in over a decade at under 1%. Many wonder, does this mean that this winter won’t be a good one for skiing and snowboarding? Thankfully, there is no correlation between early November snow coverage and the severity of the winter weather as we head into the new year.

Every year, the snow coverage in November varies, but thankfully, November is still early in the ski season and there is still a lot of time. It’s time to get those snow dances going and hope for the best because the weather can make a 180 degree turn in no time!