"Snow seems to be missing in action this winter for much of the United States."

"This January was the third weakest month on record for snow covering the ground for the U.S. Lower 48, according to the Global Snow Lab at Rutgers University. Records go back to 1967.

Two years ago more than two-thirds of the Lower 48 was covered in snow. Last year, it was 52 percent as a billion-dollar blizzard barreled through. This year, it’s only 19 percent."

Seth Borenstein reports for the Associated Press February 1, 2012. [2]