01:17 Making Snowflakes Any Time of the Year The Weather Channel meteorologist Kelly Cass looks at how you can make a snowflake any season of the year.

At a Glance Snow cover in the Lower 48 states is the lowest for late November in at least 14 years.

Even locations near the Canadian border have bare ground as of Nov. 27.

This was a stunning turnaround from expansive snow cover in early November.



Snow cover in the Lower 48 states since Black Friday have reached a low point not seen in late November in at least 14 years.

On Nov. 26, only 3.5 percent of the contiguous United States had snow on the ground, according to an analysis from NOAA's National Operational Hydrologic Remote Sensing Center .

(MAP: Current U.S. Snow Cover )

<img class="styles__noscript__2rw2y" src="https://dsx.weather.com/util/image/w/27nov17-snow-depth-nohrsc.jpg?v=at&w=485&h=273&api=7db9fe61-7414-47b5-9871-e17d87b8b6a0" srcset="https://dsx.weather.com/util/image/w/27nov17-snow-depth-nohrsc.jpg?v=at&w=485&h=273&api=7db9fe61-7414-47b5-9871-e17d87b8b6a0 400w, https://dsx.weather.com/util/image/w/27nov17-snow-depth-nohrsc.jpg?v=ap&w=980&h=551&api=7db9fe61-7414-47b5-9871-e17d87b8b6a0 800w" > Snow cover analysis as of 1 a.m. EST, Nov. 27, 2017. Only parts of the mountain West, northern Great Lakes, and northern New England had snow on the ground at that time. (NOAA/NOHRSC) (NOAA/NOHRSC)

Among the typically snowy locations reporting no measurable snow cover as of Nov. 27 were Bangor, Maine; Marquette, Michigan; Syracuse, New York; and Grand Forks, North Dakota.

Examining the last seven days of November, no such period in NOAA/NOHRSC's database dating to 2003 featured such a minimal snowpack in the Lower 48.

Only late November 2006 had snow cover anywhere near as paltry as what we're seeing currently.

Recent late Novembers in 2010, 2013, 2014 and 2015 featured at least one day in which one-third or more of the Lower 48 was covered in snow.

Average snow cover extent in the last week of November ranges from 17 to 23 percent, according to the NOHRSC.

This is a stunning turnaround from earlier in the month. On Nov. 8, snow cover in the Lower 48 was the most expansive for that date in the 14-year database, covering more than one-fourth of the contiguous U.S.

Prior to that, data from Rutgers University's Global Snow Lab indicated North America snow cover during the week of Oct. 31 through Nov. 6 was the second-highest for that particular week in their records dating to 1966, topped only by 1991.

Why So Little Snow Lately?

Don't necessarily blame a lack of cold air for the dearth of snow recently; we've had several plunges of cold air into the U.S. in November.

(MORE: When Winter Weather Conditions Typically Arrive Where You Live )

In fact, November's first 26 days overall trended colder than average across most of the northern tier of states from northern Montana to parts of northern New England, according to the Prism Climate Group at Oregon State University .

However, since early November, these frontal systems have come through either relatively dry – minus lake-effect snow – or most of their precipitation has fallen as rain, rather than snow in the Midwest and East.

<img class="styles__noscript__2rw2y" src="https://dsx.weather.com/util/image/w/nov2017-mid-late-jet.jpg?v=at&w=485&h=273&api=7db9fe61-7414-47b5-9871-e17d87b8b6a0" srcset="https://dsx.weather.com/util/image/w/nov2017-mid-late-jet.jpg?v=at&w=485&h=273&api=7db9fe61-7414-47b5-9871-e17d87b8b6a0 400w, https://dsx.weather.com/util/image/w/nov2017-mid-late-jet.jpg?v=ap&w=980&h=551&api=7db9fe61-7414-47b5-9871-e17d87b8b6a0 800w" > The dominant jet-stream pattern in mid-late November 2017, responsible for a relative dearth of contiguous U.S. snow cover.

Recent cross-country warmth has then taken a toll on whatever snowpack was left from earlier in the month in the northern Plains, northern Great Lakes and northern New England.

In the West, the dominant storm track has largely been into the Pacific Northwest, northern Rockies or southwest Canada recently, taking most of the mountain snow into those areas.

Parts of the northern Rockies, the Washington Cascades and high Sierra are seeing snowpack well above average for late November , allowing for excellent early-season skiing at some resorts.

(MORE: Record Mid-November Snowpack at Some Western Locations )

However, other parts of the West have been largely left out.

Denver may see its first November without measurable snow since 1949. Salt Lake City is still waiting for its first measurable snow of the season more than three weeks later than average. Flagstaff, Arizona, is doing the same, with a snowfall season-to-date deficit of 10 inches as of Nov. 26.

Many other areas used to seeing early-season snow will have to wait until December to get in the Christmas mood.

Jonathan Erdman is a senior meteorologist at weather.com and has been an incurable weather geek since a tornado narrowly missed his childhood home in Wisconsin at age 7. Follow him on Facebook and Twitter .