NSIDC Director: "I"ve Have Not Seen A Winter Like This Before"; Worst Western Snow Drought In Decades

[hatrack]

A record snow drought with unprecedented heat is hitting most of the American West, depleting future water supplies, making it more vulnerable to wildfires and hurting winter tourism and recreation.

Scientists say snow cover and snow depth are both at the lowest levels they’ve seen in decades, while at least 67 Western weather stations have measured their warmest December through early February on record. Normal snow cover this time of year should be about 460,000 square miles — about the size of California, Utah, Idaho and Montana — but this year it’s only California-sized, about 155,000 square miles, according to the National Snow and Ice Data Center. “I have not seen a winter like this before,” said center director Mark Serreze, who has been in Colorado almost 40 years. “This pattern that we’re in is so darned persistent.”

The snowpack — measured by how much water is trapped inside — in Oregon is not only record low, but 30% lower than the previous record, said Jason Gerlich, regional drought early warning system coordinator for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

EDIT

While it’s been dry, the record-low snowpack is mostly due to how warm the West has been, which is connected to climate change from the burning of coal, oil and natural gas, several scientists said. Since Dec. 1, there have been more than 8,500 daily high temperature records broken or tied in the West, according to NOAA data. Much of the precipitation that would normally fall as snow and stay in the mountains for months is instead falling as rain, which runs off quicker, Swain and other scientists said. It’s a problem scientists have warned about with climate change.

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https://apnews.com/article/west-snow-drought-wildfires-water-shortages-rain-45034fc86084a9d62198dc4de8e4ff41

[erronis]

1. Piece from The Guardian: "Western US gripped by extreme snow drought: 'I've never seen a winter like this''

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/feb/11/snow-drought-oregon-colorado-utah

States brace for less water and fire risks as Oregon, Colorado and Utah report lowest statewide snowpack since 1980s

Patchy snow in Park City, Utah, on Friday. Photograph: Mario Tama/Getty Images