NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information
During February, above-average temperatures were observed across much of the East and West Coast with below-average conditions across the Northern Rockies to Central and Northern Plains. Above-average precipitation fell across much of the central U.S. with much-above-average precipitation totals for the Northern Rockies and High Plains, Deep South and Midwest. Most of the precipitation in the South and Midwest fell as rain. The combination of below-average temperatures and above-average precipitation resulted in above-average snow across the Northern Rockies and Northern to Central Plains. According to NOAA's National Snow Analysis, on February 1st, 28.6 percent of the contiguous U.S. had snow on the ground — the high elevations in the Northwest, much of the Central and Northern Rockies stretching into the adjacent Plains, Upper Midwest and Northeast. An active storm pattern mid-month brought the snow cover to 48.0 percent on the 23rd, the monthly peak. By the end of the month, 35.0 percent of the U.S. had snow on the ground — most of the West, with the exception of the Southwest and parts of the interior Northwest, the Northern Plains to Upper Midwest, and northern parts of the Northeast.
According to NOAA data analyzed by the Rutgers Global Snow Lab, the monthly snow cover across the contiguous U.S. was 1.30 million square miles, 99,600 square miles above the 1981-2010 average. This was the 20th largest February snow cover extent in the 52-year satellite record and largest since 2014. Above-average snow cover was across the Northern Rockies, Central and Northern Plains, and parts of the Northwest and Northeast. Below-average snow cover was observed across the Southwest and the Great Lakes region.
Melting of winter and spring mountain snowpack provides a crucial summer water source across much of the western United States. The total annual water budget for agriculture and human use in the mountainous West is highly dependent on the amount of snow melt that will occur in spring and is proportional to the amount of snow on the ground. On March 1st, below-average snowpack, in many instances less than 25 percent of normal, was observed in the southern Cascades, Sierra Nevada Mountains, Great Basin and Southern Rockies. Above-average snowpack was observed in the northern Cascades and Northern Rockies with totals more than 180 percent of normal in parts of Wyoming and Montana. Near- to below-average snowpack was observed in the Central Rockies. In Alaska, below-average snowpack was observed across southern parts of the state with much-above-average snowpack for interior locations.