{"id":472177,"date":"2026-02-16T15:35:38","date_gmt":"2026-02-16T15:35:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/472177\/"},"modified":"2026-02-16T15:35:38","modified_gmt":"2026-02-16T15:35:38","slug":"worst-snow-drought-in-decades-grips-much-of-western-us","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/472177\/","title":{"rendered":"Worst snow drought in decades grips much of Western US"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

Scientists say snow cover and snow depth are both at the lowest levels they\u2019ve 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 \u2014 about the size of California, Utah, Idaho and Montana \u2014 but this year it\u2019s only California-sized, about 155,000 square miles, according to the National Snow and Ice Data Center.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have not seen a winter like this before,\u201d said center director Mark Serreze, who has been in Colorado almost 40 years. \u201cThis pattern that we\u2019re in is so darned persistent.\u201d<\/p>\n

The snowpack \u2014 measured by how much water is trapped inside \u2014 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.<\/p>\n

Much of the U.S. east of the Rockies is snowbound and enduring more than two weeks of bone-chilling abnormal cold<\/a>, but in West Jordan, Utah, a suburb of Salt Lake City, Trevor Stephens went to the store last week in gym shorts and a T-shirt. <\/p>\n

\u201cRight now there\u2019s no snow on the ground,\u201d he said in a video interview, looking out his window and lamenting the lack of snowboarding opportunities. \u201cI\u2019d definitely rather have icy roads and snow than whatever is going on out here right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Concerns over water supply and wildfires<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"With<\/p>\n

With a backdrop of snowless mountains, a couple walk around the lake in Washington Park, Friday, Feb. 6, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo\/David Zalubowski)<\/p>\n

With a backdrop of snowless mountains, a couple walk around the lake in Washington Park, Friday, Feb. 6, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo\/David Zalubowski)<\/p>\n

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Ski resorts had already been struggling<\/a> through a difficult season, but the lack of snow has been persistent enough that concerns are growing about wider effects. <\/p>\n

Oregon, Colorado and Utah have reported their lowest statewide snowpack since the early 1980s, as far back as records go. <\/p>\n

A dry January has meant most states have received half their average precipitation or even less. Along with sunny days and higher-than-average temperatures, that\u2019s meant little snow buildup in a month that historically gets a lot of snow accumulation across much of the Pacific Northwest and Northern Rockies. Because of heavy rains in December, California is in better shape than the other states, scientists said.<\/p>\n

As of Monday, it had been 327 days since Salt Lake City International Airport got 1 inch (2.54 centimeters) of snow, making it the longest stretch since 1890-91, according to the National Weather Service. <\/p>\n

The meager snow in Colorado and Utah has put the Upper Colorado River Basin at the heart of the snow drought, said Gerlich.<\/p>\n

A robust mountain snowpack that slowly melts as winter warms to spring provides a steady flow of water into creeks and rivers. That helps ensure there\u2019s enough water later in the year for agriculture, cities, hydropower electric systems and more. <\/p>\n

But lack of snow or a too-fast melt means less water will replenish rivers like the Colorado later in the season.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a pretty big problem for the Colorado basin,\u201d said Daniel Swain of the University of California\u2019s Water Resources Institute. <\/p>\n

Experts said the snow drought could also kick-start an early wildfire<\/a> season. Snow disappearing earlier than average leaves the ground exposed to warmer weather in the spring and summer, which dries soils and vegetation quicker, said Daniel McEvoy, researcher with the Western Regional Climate Center. <\/p>\n

Too warm to snow<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Taking<\/p>\n

Taking advantage of daytime hgh temperatures in the 60s, a cyclist wheels through Washington Park, Friday, Feb. 6, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo\/David Zalubowski)<\/p>\n

Taking advantage of daytime hgh temperatures in the 60s, a cyclist wheels through Washington Park, Friday, Feb. 6, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo\/David Zalubowski)<\/p>\n

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While it\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s a problem scientists have warned about with climate change<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Going snowless happens from time to time, but it\u2019s the warmth that has been so extreme, which is easier to tie to climate change, said Russ Schumacher, professor of atmospheric science at Colorado State University and Colorado State Climatologist. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt was so warm, especially in December, that the snow was only falling at the highest parts of the mountains,\u201d McEvoy said. \u201cAnd then we moved into January and it got really dry almost everywhere for the last three to four weeks and stayed warm.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wetter, cooler weather is coming<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A flock of Canada geese sits in a small bank of dirt-covered snow melting in a parking lot, Friday, Feb. 6, 2026, in Sheridan, Colo. (AP Photo\/David Zalubowski)<\/p>\n

A flock of Canada geese sits in a small bank of dirt-covered snow melting in a parking lot, Friday, Feb. 6, 2026, in Sheridan, Colo. (AP Photo\/David Zalubowski)<\/p>\n

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Meteorologists expect wetter, cooler weather across the West this week with some snow, so this may be the peak of the snow drought. But it\u2019ll still be warmer than usual in many areas, and scientists aren\u2019t optimistic the snow will be enough. <\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think there\u2019s any way we\u2019re going to go back up to, you know, average or anywhere close to that,\u201d said Schumacher. \u201cBut at least we can chip away at those deficits a little bit if it does get more active.\u201d <\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

The Associated Press receives support from the Walton Family Foundation for coverage of water and environmental policy. The AP is solely responsible for all content. For all of AP\u2019s environmental coverage, visit https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/climate-and-environment<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A record snow drought with unprecedented heat is hitting most of the American West, depleting future water supplies,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":472178,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[1017,3830,2356,1685,3829,3832,192,793,219096,219097,11499,1058,3828,3833,1060,2232,79,200479,219095,795,3325,3324,2986,3322,3314],"class_list":{"0":"post-472177","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environment","8":"tag-arizona","9":"tag-az-state-wire","10":"tag-california","11":"tag-climate-and-environment","12":"tag-co-state-wire","13":"tag-colorado","14":"tag-environment","15":"tag-general-news","16":"tag-jason-gerlich","17":"tag-mark-serreze","18":"tag-national-oceanic-and-atmospheric-administration","19":"tag-nevada","20":"tag-new-mexico","21":"tag-nm-state-wire","22":"tag-nv-state-wire","23":"tag-oregon","24":"tag-science","25":"tag-send-to-apple-news","26":"tag-trevor-stephens","27":"tag-u-s-news","28":"tag-ut-state-wire","29":"tag-utah","30":"tag-weather","31":"tag-wy-state-wire","32":"tag-wyoming"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/472177","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=472177"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/472177\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/472178"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=472177"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=472177"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=472177"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}