DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — No snow boots needed in Milwaukee. Chicago commuters aren’t dodging knee-deep snow drifts frozen along city sidewalks. And children in Des Moines are settling for ice shavings dumped from a Zamboni.

Many cities in the Midwest haven’t seen any decent snow this season — and some are even setting records for the number of days without it, in part because last winter was so mild and any precipitation that does fall gets soaked into the drought-parched land.