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Question from Melissa: Several of my friends and I were talking about all the snow we received this year in upstate New York when someone said they can remember a time when there was snow on the ground in all 50 states at the same time.
None of us believed him when he said that. Is it true? That just doesn’t seem possible.
Rick’s answer: Melissa, I can certainly understand why you have doubts about such an unlikely occurrence, but it’s actually true. Although it extremely rare for there to be snow on the ground in every US state at the same time, it does happen every now and then.
It’s quite common for snow to fall and stick to the ground at times in most of the “lower 48” states, and Alaska is pretty much a given. But you’re probably wondering about Florida and Hawaii…
Well, believe it or not, Hawaii’s volcanic mountain peaks turn white with snow just about every winter, and in fact it happened this past winter.
Of course there are no mountains in Florida and it’s located close enough to the equator to make snowfalls exceedingly rare, but it can and does snow in the Sunshine State every now and then. For example, the Florida panhandle got a dusting of snow this past winter as well (although not on the same day).
So now that we have established that all US states do in fact receive measurable snowfalls, let’s return to your question…
As I mentioned above, having snow on the ground in all 50 states simultaneously is extremely rare, but it does happen. Check out this short news report from February 2010:
So there you have it. Snow on the ground in all 50 US states at the same time – and it’s happened more than once!
And now, I’ll just finish up with this…
Do you live in a place that gets cold and snowy in the wintertime? If so, you might enjoy one of these. (#ad)