snow-cover-great-lakesjpg-9f2f0613cb6df85b.jpg

Snow on the ground as of January 27, 2014 is heaviest in the snow belts. Some parts of the Upper Peninsula are reporting over 40 inches of snow on the ground.

(National Snow Analysis - NOAA)

We have certainly had abundant snow here in Michigan this winter. It looks like Michigan has some of the deepest snow cover in all of the U.S.

The top graphic shows that snowmobiling from border to border is no problem. The lake effect snow belts have the deepest snow cover, but all of Michigan is covered in snow.

In fact, the least amount of snow you'll find in Michigan is four inches in the far southeast corner of the Lower Peninsula.

The heaviest snow cover is along the Lake Superior shoreline in the eastern U.P. and the Keweenaw Peninsula. Those areas have anywhere between 40 and 60 inches of snow on the ground currently. Bear in mind that is a solid 40 inches of snow, meaning 50 or 60 inches of snow has compacted down to 40 inches.

Mile for mile, Michigan has more snow cover than any other U.S. state.

How does Michigan's snow cover stack up?

Mile for mile, Michigan has more snow cover than any other U.S. state. Grand Rapids reports 18 inches of snow on the ground this morning. Buffalo, New York has nine inches. Minneapolis has 12 inches on the ground. Denver and Colorado Springs only have a trace of snow on the ground. And Caribou, Maine, at the very northern most part of the U.S., only has 14 inches of snow cover this morning.

So we truly do live in a winter wonderland right now. For half of us, we love the wonderland. The other half of us wonders why we live in this land.

Mark Torregrossa has been the chief meteorologist for three television news stations in Michigan. A resident of the state for 20 years, he has also gardened since the age of ten and is an avid hunter. Email him at mark@farmerweather.com and find him on Facebook at facebook.com/mark.torregrossa and Twitter @weathermanmark