snowpack

After recent storms dumped even more rainfall on Southern California and blasted snow across the central and northern Sierra Nevada, the latest hydrological data shows the state in its best position yet for a drought-free summer.Following a February of wet, winter storms — many aimed at California’s southwest region — Wednesday’s low pressure system didn’t set any rain records by itself, but it did bring the latest in a series of heavy downpours to the Southland. Much of the region received about a half-inch to one inch…

The Rocky Mountains conjure up images of grey rugged peaks capped with white. But within the upper reaches of the harsh mountain landscapes, a rosier hue often blooms.Watermelon snow, also known as glacial blood, is caused by algae that turns the snow a startling shade of red.The algae blooms in summer, forming on the snowfields that linger on glaciers, frozen lakes, rugged peaks and icy valleys in the upper reaches of mountain terrain.The darker the snow, the faster it melts — and new research sheds light on the threat…

Effect of human-driven global warming on spring snowpacks in Northern Hemisphere watersheds from 1981-2020 by percentage of change per decade. Red indicates a decrease and blue indicates an increase. Snowpacks in many far-north watersheds increased as climate change led to more precipitation that fell as snow. But the lower-latitude watersheds that provide water and economic benefits to northern population centers experienced the greatest losses.…

Snowpack is shrinking across the Northern Hemisphere thanks to climate change, and many communities could soon face a “snow-loss cliff,” according to the most comprehensive assessment yet.  The effects of climate change can vary dramatically from place to place, which is why it’s been difficult to suss out the bigger picture with snowpack until recently. Now we can see that many of the hardest hit places also happen to be those that depend on snowpack for their water. Other communities that have seen relatively little…

Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain Even in the precipitation-heavy Pacific Northwest, more frequent heat waves are threatening a key source of water supply. A Washington State University study that intended to look at snow melting under a single, extreme event, the 2021 "heat dome," instead revealed an alarming, longer-term rising trend of successive…

On a sunny day in late September, Todd Olander was out in the fields of a 90-acre farm in Berthoud planting rows of barley. Typically, Olander would let the soil rest through the winter months, but in recent years he’s begun experimenting with new varieties of barley that have been specifically adapted to withstand cold temperatures. Growing in the winter means the crops will absorb precipitation through the spring, a vital advantage as weather in the Western U.S. continues to get hotter and drier. As the proprietor of…

Horseshoe Bend along the Colorado River. Credit: Sean Benesh via Unsplash The Colorado River Basin provides freshwater to more than 40 million people within the semi-arid southwestern United States, including major cities such as Las Vegas and Los Angeles. However, between 2000 and 2021 the basin experienced a megadrought (a severe drought lasting multiple decades), which researchers have suggested likely would not have…

MT. WHITNEY'S SUMMIT —  The final stretch of our climb to the top of California’s historic snowpack was so steep only the front points of our crampons were in contact with the mountain. Beneath our heels was nothing but air.A fall from there, just below the 14,505-foot summit of Mt. Whitney, could have been fatal. A quick glance over my shoulder showed a tiny patch of baby blue — the first sign of melting — on an icy lake 2,000 feet below.Don’t look down, I thought, just keep moving. I kicked one toe into the snow as…

2D map of deformation derived from interferometric synthetic aperture radar data in the Central Valley of California, USA, for the time period 1 January 2015 to 19 September 2019. Credit: Geophysical Research Letters (2023). DOI: 10.1029/2023GL103222 Billions of tons of snow piled atop the Sierra Nevada Mountains can cause parts of the Central Valley, just west of the range, to sink—muddling groundwater assessments that take…

A sign warning the public of dangerous river conditions is posted alongside the American River in Sacramento, California on May 23, 2023. Photo: Haven Daley (AP)A series of consecutive snowstorms dropped a lot of snow all over California’s mountains this winter. And now all of that snow is finally melting and filling up the state’s rivers. It’s making them larger, faster, colder,and extremely dangerous to swim in.California’s Snowpack Gets a Much Needed Boost | Extreme EarthState safety officials are worried about the…