Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Here is a NOAA image (as of today) of current snow-cover across the USA and Canada. As is always the case in a map of this size…there is likely some missing data points, but I would think it’s fairly accurate.
About 90% of Canada is snow covered, except for Vancouver Island. In the USA…most of the interior West is snow covered into northern New Mexico. The mountains outside of Los Angeles and San Francisco are snow covered…as well as the high country into Baja California. Then the snow line follows 40-42 latitude across the USA from Nebraska to Boston. Parts of the Appalachian highlands have snow cover (Virginia/W. Virginia). Along the East Coast/Atlantic coast… there is no snow cover from Rhode Island southward.
The only snow we've had in Toronto (west Mississauga, to be more specific) for the past 2 weeks have been in the form of piles leftover from either earlier January, or December 09. That map appears more like the average snowcover rather than actual, but if it's current then I am very lucky.
Likely most of southern Ontario has some level of snow depth, (however small)
just where I live is known to have relatively light snowfall.
The only snow we've had in Toronto (west Mississauga, to be more specific) for the past 2 weeks have been in the form of piles leftover from either earlier January, or December 09. That map appears more like the average snowcover rather than actual, but if it's current then I am very lucky.
Likely most of southern Ontario has some level of snow depth, (however small)
just where I live is known to have relatively light snowfall.
I’m pretty sure that map was the current snow cover. Here is a better one I just found…a bit more detailed. It still look pretty close to the NOAA map.
This one has parts of the lower Lakes with only patchy snow cover. You can see how the recent storm in the West laid down a snow cover all the way to New Mexico. There seems to be a good snow cover in the northern tier from South Dakota to Massachusetts. This one only shows one spot of snow in the Appalachian highlands ( the above map seemed to spread it around more). Along the Pacific Coast you can see the snow cover in the high country of California, Oregon, and Washington. Along the Atlantic Coast…it still looks the same as the first map… with the snow cover gone from Rhode Island southward. As far as Toronto…I m not surprised there is just patchy snow cover this year…most of the Upper Midwest/Great Lakes is running behind in seasonal snowfall.
As far as what’s the normal snow cover…I wish I could find a map of that (lol). It would be interesting to see. From what I have seen…40 latitude is the general line. In the USA (with the exception of the highlands in CA and the Appalachian highlands)…there is normally only a fleeting snow cover (30 days or less) south of 40 latitude. Once you are below 35 latitude (around Kansas –Virginia) snow cover is really rare.
I wonder what this map will look like for the rest of February…the last month of meteorological winter.
Well I haven't seen any snow cover for quite some time and I've travelled about 20 miles from my house east and west recently. It looks like a Weather Channel map, so that could be why it shows continuous snow cover around where I live.
A "normal" map or ones that I see when we are having regular winter conditions usually has a snowline either just barely south of Pittsburgh, or north of Pittsburgh starting in the northern half of western PA with a narrow strip extending 20-50 miles south of Lake Erie in Ohio.
Last edited by ColdCanadian; 01-25-2010 at 01:00 PM..
^^ That one makes sense, and shows why I've seen no snow cover.
That is a bit odd…both the NOAA and WC maps seem to have snow cover in southern Michigan and in extreme southern Ontario (metro Toronto)…while the intillicast has none in those areas. Maybe some of the posters in southern MI could tell us what the deal really is. I’m a little shocked that on all three maps…the last days of January have no snow cover around the southern Great Lakes (northern Ohio, northern Indiana, metro Chicago…etc).
I think your right about Pittsburgh….it is the rough average line for seasonal snow cover as it straddles 40 north latitude…so that would make sense. Since we are about to start February…winter has just about four weeks left to move that snow cover line south. So in terms of snow cover… winter is about to start the fourth quarter (lol).
After late February…the solar angle is just too strong I would think.
That is a bit odd…both the NOAA and WC maps seem to have snow cover in southern Michigan and in extreme southern Ontario (metro Toronto)…while the intillicast has none in those areas. Maybe some of the posters in southern MI could tell us what the deal really is. I’m a little shocked that on all three maps…the last days of January have no snow cover around the southern Great Lakes (northern Ohio, northern Indiana, metro Chicago…etc).
I think your right about Pittsburgh….it is the rough average line for seasonal snow cover as it straddles 40 north latitude…so that would make sense. Since we are about to start February…winter has just about four weeks left to move that snow cover line south. So in terms of snow cover… winter is about to start the fourth quarter (lol).
After late February…the solar angle is just too strong I would think.
I live about 5 miles as the crow flies from Lake Ontario. The maps your looking at might not be detailed enough to show a bare ring around west end of Lake Ontario, if that's where the snow ends. I haven't driven north in months so I wouldn't know where the measureable snow depth starts.
The Weather Network used to have "Snow Report" maps, but the link has disappeared.
We can easily get heavy snowfalls (6+ inches) right up to mid-March.
I suppose you mean for folks around the 40th parallel?
Don't you spend your winters in Florida or the Bahamas?
That is a bit odd…both the NOAA and WC maps seem to have snow cover in southern Michigan and in extreme southern Ontario (metro Toronto)…while the intillicast has none in those areas. Maybe some of the posters in southern MI could tell us what the deal really is. I’m a little shocked that on all three maps…the last days of January have no snow cover around the southern Great Lakes (northern Ohio, northern Indiana, metro Chicago…etc).
I think your right about Pittsburgh….it is the rough average line for seasonal snow cover as it straddles 40 north latitude…so that would make sense. Since we are about to start February…winter has just about four weeks left to move that snow cover line south. So in terms of snow cover… winter is about to start the fourth quarter (lol).
After late February…the solar angle is just too strong I would think.
If you "pan and zoom" it does show snow in those areas as the map that you see in the posting is from 7 am. Some snow has probably fallen since then. That's just what i observed.
We have barely had any snow in Vancouver at all this year in the city itself. We had one light dusting in December that went away after about a day....it's wreaking havoc with Olympic organizers trying to figure out to get extra snow for the ski events.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
That map appears more like the average snowcover rather than actual, but if it's current then I am very lucky. 
