Snow lovers and ski area owners throughout the region are experiencing an unusually subdued winter, a snow drought, if you will, writes Ian Livingston for The Washington Post.

While the mountains in the west are covered, Philadelphia, like much of the Northeast, is having a snow drought that is now entering unprecedented historic territory.

Below-average snowfall has been recorded along the entire Interstate 95 corridor. As things currently stand in Philadelphia, no measurable snow has fallen so far.

In fact, Philadelphia, along with several other cities along the East Coast, is closing on having the most delayed start to a snow season on record due to the lack of measurable snow. This winter is the twelfth longest without any measurable snow. The latest first measurable snow recorded in the Philadelphia region was Feb. 3, although the winter of 1972-73 had no snow whatsoever.

The winter’s first accumulating snowfall in the City of Brotherly Love has now become more than a month later than average.

The average first accumulating snowfall has also been coming later in the year in most of the coastal northeast primarily due to the effects of climate change and urbanization.

Read more about the snow drought hitting much of the northeast in The Washington Post.