As of Friday afternoon, at least 70 percent of the United States had snow onthe ground. Such widespread snow cover rarely happens and needs certain weatherto occur. The requirements are persistent cold and plenty of storms, and thoseconditions have existed during late January and early February.In time, the sun will shine and the snow will be gone, but for at least thenext couple of weeks, winter is still in control.

Story By AccuWeather.com Meteorologist Rob Richards.