A dry and unusually warm January has pushed much of the western United States into what experts are calling one of the worst snow droughts in decades.
As of February 1, satellite data shows snow cover across the West at its lowest level for this point in the season since records began in 2001. Several states — including Colorado, Utah, and Oregon — are reporting record-low statewide snowpack, based on snow monitoring records that go back more than 40 years.
Snowpack acts as a natural reservoir for the region, storing water through winter and slowly releasing it into rivers and streams in spring and early summer. But this year, many of the West’s most important water supply basins — including the Upper Colorado River, Rio Grande, Deschutes, Humboldt, and Yakima — are already experiencing severe snow drought.
Much of the problem comes down to heat. Early winter storms brought moisture across the region, but record-breaking temperatures meant much of that precipitation fell as rain instead of snow. January then turned especially dry, with many western states receiving 50 percent of normal precipitation or less during what is typically one of the snowiest months of the year.
Warm conditions have also created a stark elevation divide. Snow remains at higher elevations, but has melted or failed to accumulate at lower elevations (like Cortez, Dolores, and Mancos locally, where bare ground is visible), raising concerns about how efficiently spring snowmelt will translate into runoff.
Across the western continental U.S., more than 90 percent of snow monitoring stations are now reporting below-average snow water equivalent — a key measure of how much water is stored in the snowpack. More than two-thirds of stations are below the 20th percentile, the threshold scientists use to define snow drought.
Colorado is among the hardest hit. About 95 percent of the state’s snow telemetry sites are now in snow drought, and statewide snowpack is at a record low for early February.
The impacts are already being felt. Winter recreation has suffered in many areas, and water managers are growing increasingly concerned about supplies for agriculture, energy production, and communities that rely on snowmelt-fed rivers. A lack of snow cover can also dry out landscapes earlier in the year, increasing wildfire risk as summer approaches.
Forecasters say time is running short to make up these deficits before peak snowpack season in March and April. While wetter weather is possible in the coming weeks, continued warmth could limit recovery — leaving water supplies under strain heading into the year ahead.
