(Maps via NOAA)

Winter in the United States has gotten off to a slower start this year than it did in late 2014, and the NOAA maps above serve as a reminder of how much snow fell last November.

The animated image at the top of this page shows the snow cover in the Lower 48 on Nov. 19, 2014 and the same date a year later. In the 2014 image, a large swath of the northern U.S. was already covered with snow, and some parts of the Plains and even the South were reporting accumulations. If Hawaii's peaks and we assume that Alaska had at least some snow cover on Nov. 19, 2014, that's 40 of the 50 states with at least some snow cover.

This year? Maybe 23, if the assumptions about Hawaii and Alaska are true this year as well.

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"This November has overall been much warmer than last year," said weather.com meteorologist . "November 2014 set records for both cold and snow due to a southward dip in the jet stream that allowed multiple cold fronts to push through the central and eastern U.S. A few locations in Michigan and Wisconsin saw their coldest November on record and the snow the first weekend in November set records for earliest snowfall in parts of the South."

Lam added that the pattern on everyone's mind– El Niño– has influenced the dearth of snow so far this fall.

"El Niño has played a role in this November being warmer and the lack of snow in the central and eastern U.S.," Lam said. "Typically the northern tier, from the Pacific Northwest through the northern Plains and into parts of the Midwest and Northeast, sees less snow in an El Niño winter. However, that is not always the case.

The lack of snow hasn't happened everywhere; there has been plenty so far in some areas that desperately need a big season of winter weather. In the Western mountain ranges, where extreme drought , several big snow events have already turned the peaks white. It was hard to find snow anywhere in the Sierras of California and Nevada last November, but they're well ahead of schedule this year. Same for the Cascades farther north, where very little snow fell last fall.

Here's a look at all of the named winter storm tracks from the 2014-15 season. Through Nov. 19, 2014, two winter storms had been named– and .

MORE ON WEATHER.COM: Winter Storm Ajax

A man walks his dog after a night of fresh snowfall, in Boulder, Colo., Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2015. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley)