Yes, that was a poor choice of color, especially since the color in the legend does look grey, not white. What was wrong with making the non-snow areas the same color as, say, Mexico? Probably to highlight the fact that this map isn't forecasting for areas outside the continental United States. In that case, why not go back to the U.S.-only maps, which had the U.S. essentially "floating" in the middle of nowhere?
