Snow is on the ground in 49 of 50 states for the second time this season

CLEVELAND - For the second time this year, there is snow on the ground in 49 of 50 U.S states. According to the National Snow Analysis Data Center, Snow covers a full 63.1 percent of the US as of the morning of Feb. 11.

That's down from last month when snow covered 69.4 percent of the U.S. Still, there is snow on the ground at least somewhere in every state of the union, except Florida. Even Hawaii has some snow. Hawaii commonly sees snow on top of the 13,800-foot Mauna Kea volcano. There is snow there for much of the year at its higher elevations.

This comes a month to the day after snow was observed on the ground in 49 states back on Jan. 12. Florida, again was the only state with no snow on the ground that day. On that day, 71 percent of the US was covered in snow.

How often does this occur? Its been such a rare occurrence in the past, no one has kept official records of when its happened before. It did happen once last year. On Feb. 12, 2010, there was snow on the ground in all of the lower 48 states. About an inch of snow was measured on the ground for about 6 hours even in the Panhandle of Florida, just north of Pensicola. The only state not to register any snow accumulation that day was Hawaii.

So, has there eve been snow on the ground in all 50 states at one time? Scientists don't know for sure. They've never kept track. One possible day was Jan. 19, 1977 after the Blizzard of '77.

There was snow on the ground in all of the Gulf Coast States - Florida, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia. Even Hawaii had snow on the ground. But, no one can find a record of any snow in North Carolina on that day.