It’s no secret that the winter season has been a bit lackluster for many ski areas and mountains throughout western North America, but recent photos from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer on NASA’s Terra satellite show just how bad it really is.
The image was taken back on January 15th, and coverage has increased slightly since then, but it’s still a pretty incredible look. Measurements derived from satellite observations on January 15th showed that snow blanketed just 142,700 square miles of the west, the lowest coverage for that date in the MODIS record dating back to 2001. That’s less than one-third of the median.
The snow water equivalent (SWE), the amount of water stored in the snowpack, is also looking pretty rough. According to an early January report from the National Integrated Drought Information System, snow drought (defined as SWE below the 20th percentile for a given date) was most severe in Washington, Oregon, Colorado, Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico. At least One ground-based monitoring station in every major western watershed showed the lowest SWE in at least 20 years as of January 26th.
Winter snowpack is vital to the water supply as precipitation falling as rain usually runs off before it can recharge reservoirs and groundwater. Snowpack that melts in the spring can produce a more sustained water supply. While there’s a lot of winter remaining, snowfall in the coming months could have a hard time making up for the existing deficits.
