Snow On The Ground In 49 Out Of 50 States
As the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic get battered by yet another winter storm, we’re at one of those points where nearly every state in the country has snow somewhere:
Snow is on the ground in 49 out of the 50 states; only the Sunshine State of Florida is completely snow-free, according to a map produced Thursday morning by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
(This doesn’t mean that those 49 states are snow-covered, of course, only that some part of each state has snow.)
Although this map doesn’t show it, there is snow in Hawaii, where webcams are showing snow on the high peaks of the mountain volcanoes of Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea.
The map also doesn’t include Alaska, but it’s a given that most of that state is snow-covered this time of year. A quick check with the National Weather Service forecast office in Fairbanks found 19 inches of snow on the ground there.
There doesn’t appear to be much snow on the ground in Texas or Louisiana, and with the forecast of mild temperatures, it doesn’t figure to last much longer there, if it even makes it through the day Thursday.
The map shows how sparse the snow is in parts of the West, as only small parts of Nevada, Arizona and New Mexico are showing snow because of the ongoing drought and warmth.
And, yep, a quick check of the webcam does show snow on the peaks of Hawaii’s two highest mountains.
H/T: Althouse
Maybe other people have mentioned it in other threads, but I’m seeing weird blank boxes in your quoted text. Above it is between “19 inches of snow on the ground there.” and ”
There doesn’t appear to be much snow …”
When I view source I see this:
/* OTB Mid Post */google_ad_slot = "8982079290";
google_ad_width = 300;
google_ad_height = 250;
Snow everywhere but FLA…I guess that means climate change is a hoax.
John,
Yea we are aware of it. Something going on under the hood that is being worked on as I understand it.
@john personna:
Are you running ad blocking extensions or preferences?
There are almost always snow caps at this time of year on both. They not just the state’s two highest mountains, they are the two largest mountains in the world* at near 14K’ elevation and over 33K’ in overall height. Often at some point in the winter there will be snow all the way down to ~9K’. There used to be relatively extensive permafrost on the summit of Mauna Kea, though now only a bit remains under the lake near the summit.
* Mauna Loa is by far the largest mountain on earth at ~9,600 cubic miles.
In other news, there is green grass in fifty states! Also, a good chance of at least one cloud per state. Stay tuned for the first of our 17-part series, “Why snow seems to happen every year about this time”.
@john personna:
For awhile advertisements were showing up in the middle of all block quotes. I figured the ads had been blocked, both the space still exists.
In the northern hemisphere?!
I have over two feet of it. Anyone want some?
@C. Clavin: Not really. Climate change also could mean colder temperatures. This has been our coldest winter, with several records broken . Last winter was also cold but not as bad as this one. We had milder winters from the nineties until about 2005. The summers here were hotter back in the ’60’s and ’80’s. When climate trends are studied, one needs to look at thousands or at least hundreds of years. Solar activity can also have an effect as does volcanic activity. Volcanic ash can cause a cooling, as happened in the early nineties. Headlines from a few weeks ago: “Scientists believe the earth is going into a mini ice age”. (Huffington Post). Some Russian scientists said the same thing, but parts of Russia are always in an ice age. This works out great for those scientists that hope to have a real live wooly mammoth clone roaming around soon.
The earth goes through warming periods and cooling periods. Nothing new.
@Tyrell:
While this is true, it’s important that we examine the *rate* of cooling and warming of any given period. The fact is that the current rate of change is occurring at a sustained pace that has no been seen before in recorded history.
http://www.skepticalscience.com/climate-change-little-ice-age-medieval-warm-period.htm
BTW, despite the sensational headline at the HuffPost, its important to note the following final paragraph of the article before talking about “Mini Ice Ages”
@mattbernius: We can always hope that someday we can see live wooly mammoths. And my favorite – the sabre tooth cat!!