In recent years, scientists and water managers have started using the term “snow drought” to describe meager snowpacks in the American West. … Because a lack of snow has such profound implications for the West’s water supply, wildfire risk, recreational activities and ecosystem health, the federal government now regularly tracks the severity of snow drought across the region. The reports rely on data from hundreds of SNOTEL stations—a network of automated sensors that use “snow pillows” to weigh the snowpack and calculate its water content—but federal budget cuts may hamper that system going forward.  To learn more about snow droughts, I recently spoke with one of the authors of those reports: Dan McEvoy, regional climatologist at the Western Regional Climate Center and the Desert Research Institute.

Other snowmelt and runoff news around the West:

• Weather West: Blog: A chillier and windier solstice with increased lower elevation fire risk; All signs still point to more widespread and anomalous heat later in summer
• Havasu News: The Great Outdoors: Below average snowpack and more heat spell trouble for Lake Mead
• KPCW (Park City, Utah): Podcast: Snowmelt’s journey from mountains to groundwater
• Aspen Journalism (Colo.): Real time local streamflow
• North Forty News: Northern Colorado pilot uses the sky to shine a light on water and wildfire challenges