© Michael Reynolds, epa
The Washington Monument is barely visible behind visitors to the Lincoln Memorial in Washington on Feb. 13.
The Washington Monument is barely visible behind visitors to the Lincoln Memorial in Washington on Feb. 13.
Some snow is on the ground at the highest elevations of the Big Island of Hawaii.
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.
HAWAII SNOW: Webcam from peak of volcano
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.
How dry and warm has it been in the Southwest so far this winter? January 2014 was the driest January ever recorded in New Mexico, while Arizona had its second-driest January on record, according to data released Thursday by the National Climatic Data Center.
As for warmth, both Arizona and New Mexico, along with California, had a top-10 warm January.
While driving up & down I-5 from Redding to Sacramento, there were new lighted signs saying "Serous Drought: Help Conserve Water"... some of them in the pouring rain. They are reported to be in other areas of the State (Santa Cruz, CA.)
And the evening news it's still the same "we are getting some rain, but it's not enough" Sermon on the Drought.
Nowhere can you hear anyone expressing joy or thanks for the water falling out of the sky.
I've sent letter to Editors, but they won't print them.
They don't like the rain, Sam I Am. They don't like it at all.