It's Early, But Snow Is Almost Entirely Missing From the Northern US East Of The Rockies Right Now

A​merica is largely snow free east of the High Plains right now, and while that certainly isn't unprecedented for mid November, some far northern locations already have snowfall deficits for the season.

P​altry snow, despite last week's storm: This may seem a bit surprising given the multiple feet of snow which just buried parts of Colorado and New Mexico from Winter Storm Anya.

B​ut as of Veterans Day, almost the entire Lower 48 states east of Colorado has no snow on the ground. If you squint at Monday's snow cover map below, you may see a sliver of snow on the ground in northeast Minnesota's Arrowhead region. Otherwise, it's zip, zilch, nada outside of the West.

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F​alling behind: Some well known snowy northern locations have season deficits already.

Marquette, Michigan, is already about 10 inches behind their average snow pace. They managed only about an inch of snow, so far, in one dusting over Halloween.

Other snowy parts of the Northeast waiting for their first measurable snowfall include Buffalo and Syracuse, New York; and Burlington, Vermont

I​s this unusual: The average first measurable snowfall - at least 0.1 inch - is much later in November or even December along the Northeast Interstate 95 corridor and in parts of the Midwest such as Chicago and St. Louis. And even in the interior Northeast, most first measurable snowfalls typically happen in early November.

A​ccording to NOAA's NOHRSC, Veterans Day snow cover extent was the fourth least since 2010. If it wasn't for last week's Colorado and New Mexico storm, that aerial coverage would be even lower.

W​hy snow's a no-show: The jet stream pattern has not been conducive toward channeling what cold-enough air there may be into the central or eastern U.S. since October.

Upper level high pressure has been much stronger than usual over the Great Lakes and Northeast. That dominant high pressure dome has made it both much warmer and drier than usual in the Midwest and Northeast.

R​ecord dry streaks were shattered and a flash drought developed in the Northeast this fall. Parts of the Midwest have had their record warmest fall, so far. So, even when precipitation has fallen in the Northern Plains and upper Midwest, it's been almost entirely in the form of rain, not snow.

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T​he outlook: The rest of the week we expect most of the snow to remain in the mountain West, though some light snow could dust the high country of northern New England.

A​nd as we covered in a piece for our Premium subscribers, a winter with a weak La Niña could end up snowier in the northern U.S.

It's still very early. This snowless northern scenario likely won't last long, especially once the calendar turns to December.

Jonathan Erdman is a senior meteorologist at weather.com and has been covering national and international weather since 1996. Extreme and bizarre weather are his favorite topics. Reach out to him on X (formerly Twitter), Threads, Facebook and Bluesky.