Snowfall so far this season across the U.S. East, Midwest and West has varied from meters of snow for some to unusually light snowfall for others.

The national overview: The map below from NOAA shows an estimate of snowfall to date across the country since late September.

Let’s go region by region and pinpoint both the snowy and low-snow areas relative to an average season through mid-December.

East

Buried snow: Even by typical standards, the Great Lakes snowbelts have felt it time and time again, especially since Thanksgiving.

In Erie, Pennsylvania, only 0.1 inches of snow fell this season through Thanksgiving. Then, 22.6 inches of snow fell on Black Friday alone, the record-heaviest snowfall in a calendar day. Their seasonal snow total of 59 inches is the highest of any season through Dec. 12, more than three times its previous average (17.6 inches).

The snowbelt town of Dewittville, New York, on Lake Erie, has already recorded 72.5 inches of snowfall as of the morning of December 13th due to these numerous, recent lake-effect snow events. In the town of West Carthage, New York, in the Lake Ontario snow belt, 70 inches of snow have fallen so far, again all since Thanksgiving.

Parts of the Catskills and Poconos also did fairly well, largely due to a snowstorm the week before Thanksgiving. An observer near Delhi, New York, has recorded 43.4 inches of snow so far this season.

(Amplify your forecast even further with our detailed, hour-by-hour breakdown for the next 8 days – only available on our Premium Pro Experience.)

Snow is missing: There hasn’t been much snow in the immediate Interstate 95 corridor this season. Neither Boston (0.3 inches) nor Providence, Rhode Island (0.8 inches) saw much. Instead, Providence had its wettest winter day on record on December 11th.

New York City, Philadelphia and Reagan Airport in Washington, DC have not yet experienced any measurable snowfall. However, the first measurable snow of the season typically falls in these areas in mid- to late December, senior meteorologist Chris Dolce pointed out.

Midwest

Buried snow: We need to start again with the Great Lakes snow belts.

Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan endured its longest wait ever for the season’s first measurable snow, arriving over a month later than average on November 25th. But then they were buried by 69.4 inches of snow over the next 18 days, ending on December 12th.

In Lower Michigan, the National Weather Service recorded 81.7 inches of snow near Gaylord over a 15-day period from Thanksgiving through Dec. 12. This even prompted an NWS meteorologist to ride his snowmobile to the office.

Snow is missing: Parts of the Northern Plains and Upper Midwest saw at most scattered snow.

About 2 inches of snow is all that hits both Minneapolis-St. Paul and Rapid City, South Dakota, each managed about 10 inches behind the average pace through December 12th.

La Crosse, Wisconsin and Omaha, Nebraska are also each waiting for the first 1 inch of snow of the season.

west

Buried snow: The biggest winners so far have been a stretch of Oregon and Northern California from the Cascades to the Siskiyous and the northern Sierra. According to the USDA’s National Resources Conservation Service, some basins in southwestern Oregon and far northern California have twice the average snowpack in terms of estimated snow water equivalent as of December 12.

Colorado and New Mexico were a bit of a mixed bag. Parts of these states were hit by Winter Storm Anya in early November, a record snowstorm for Las Vegas, New Mexico (31.7 inches).

But not much has happened since then, except in the Colorado high country. Snowpack in New Mexico has fallen well below average in most areas since the November storm.

Snow is missing: To illustrate this, let’s take a look at what we mentioned earlier: the current state of the snowpack. This is particularly important for the West, as the water reservoirs are replenished by the melting snow in spring.

The map below shows that much of Montana, Wyoming, northern Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico had below-average snowpack in mid-December.

Casper, Wyoming, for example, is facing a record-breaking wait for the season’s first measurable snow, more than two months later than average and nearly 22 inches behind the season’s typical snowfall rate on December 12th.

Flagstaff, Arizona, at an elevation of 7,014 feet, is more than a foot of snow behind its average pace and has not seen snowfall since November 7th.

NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center expects the remainder of the winter (through February) to trend wetter than average in the Northwest, northern Rockies and Midwest, but continue to be drier than usual in the Southwest and southern Rockies .

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Jonathan Erdman is the senior meteorologist at Weather.com and has been reporting on domestic and international weather conditions since 1996. Extreme and bizarre weather conditions are his favorite topics. Contact him at Bluesky, X (formerly Twitter) And Facebook.