The percentage of the US receiving snow, steadily declined from the 19th century until about 1990. Since then there has been a massive increase in US snow cover, with 97% of US stations receiving snow during the winter of 2011.
This is what the US looked like on January 12, 2011. Every state except Florida had snow.
We had a similar situation on February 13, 2014
North American winter snow extent has been increasing since 1990 – to record levels in recent years.
Amazing!
One not-so-well-known fact is that Florida has received snow at least three out of the last six winters. I’ve been watching this, but I base my count on my observation of TV radar, because I have seen snow appear on radar in Florida, and then the weather service turn around and say there was no snow.
RTF
I must have been in the wrong place at the wrong time. As I recall, 2011 was a blow torch year for a huge part of the country with a snow drought. The lower half of Upstate, NY had temps in the 40’s and 50’s much of the time. For people like myself who like snow, we cannot forget the winter of 2011-NOAA report for 2011:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2012/03/26/us-winter-2011-2012-fourth-warmest-recorded-history
That was the following winter you are referring to.
Steve, thanks for pointing out that I was in the wrong place at the wrong time lol.
Actually, you did a negative cherry pick as the late 1960’s were quite cold and snowy. If you took the chart back to the 1940’s or early 1950’s, the uptred would be considerably greater.