Latest Breaking News

riversedge

(80,838 posts) Wed Apr 1, 2026, 08:37 PM Wednesday

'On a whole other level': rapid snow melt-off in American west stuns scientists

Source: the guardian

Experts say brutal March heat has left critical snowpack at record-low levels – and key basins in uncharted territory

Gabrielle Canon Wed 1 Apr 2026 09.00 EDT

Snow surveys taking place across the American west this week are offering a grim prognosis, after a historically warm winter and searing March temperatures left the critical snowpack at record-low levels across the region.

Experts warned that even as the heat begins to subside, the stunning pace of melt-off over the past month has left key basins in uncharted territory for the dry seasons ahead. Though there’s still potential for more snow in the forecast, experts said it will probably be too little too late.

“This year is on a whole other level,” said Dr Russ Schumacher, a Colorado State University climatologist, speaking about the intense heat that began rapidly melting the already sparse snowpack in March. “Seeing this year so far below any of the other years we have data for is very concerning.”

Acting as a water savings account of sorts, snowpacks are essential to water supply. Measurements taken across the west during the week of 1 April are viewed as important indicators of the peak amounts of water that might melt into reservoirs, rivers and streams and across thirsty landscapes through the summer........................

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/apr/01/snowmelt-american-west?utm_source=firefox-newtab-en-us

â€˜On a whole other levelâ€™: rapid snow melt-off in American west stuns scientists

Experts say brutal March heat has left critical snowpack at record-low levels â€“ and key basins in uncharted territory

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
— (@oceancalm.bsky.social) 2026-04-02T00:27:18.376Z

Nasa satellite images show how the snowpack in Utah has diminished between late February and late March. Illustration: Guardian Design/Nasa Worldview

13 replies

= new reply since forum marked as read

Highlight:

'On a whole other level': rapid snow melt-off in American west stuns scientists (Original Post) riversedge Wednesday OP

Kick dalton99a Wednesday #1

California's snowpack situation is bleak PufPuf23 Wednesday #2

That is certainly what we saw here in NM Warpy Wednesday #8

Maybe we should be thinking more about water pipelines Buddyzbuddy Wednesday #3

How about NO? NickB79 Wednesday #4

Not to mention lonely bird Wednesday #7

Sounds like everything is a problem without solutions, ok. Buddyzbuddy Wednesday #9

If California can't live with their own water resources NickB79 17 hrs ago #12

We should be talking about pipelines and desalination plants Jimi du Ranty 21 hrs ago #10

The Elephant Butte reservoir on the Rio Grande is at 12.6 %. Scruffy1 Wednesday #5

C'mon lonely bird Wednesday #6

The Pacific Northwest is gonna burn up.. samnsara 20 hrs ago #11

As the USA faces dire environmental crises, Mysterian 9 hrs ago #13

dalton99a

(94,182 posts)

1. Kick

Reply to riversedge (Original post)

Wed Apr 1, 2026, 08:44 PM

Wednesday

The fast-melting snow is expected to have profound impacts on drinking water supply, agriculture production, and outdoor recreation. It could also set the stage for bigger blazes.

“Unless there’s a major change in the weather patterns and we somehow pull out some sort of miracle springtime precipitation, we’re looking at an extended fire season,” said Dr Joel Lisonbee, senior associate scientist at the Cooperative Institute for Research at the University of Colorado Boulder, noting that there was not a one-to-one relationship between snowpack and fire, but they are connected.

“In any sort of fire situation, you need some spark or ignition,” he said. Landscapes that would typically spend longer underneath a protective blanket of snow will become more primed to burn. Fire season may “begin weeks to months earlier than what we would usually expect”, he said. “These high temperatures and low snowpack will lead to a rapid drying of the vegetation that’s around, and that will lead to this early start.”

PufPuf23

(9,863 posts)

2. California's snowpack situation is bleak

Reply to riversedge (Original post)

Wed Apr 1, 2026, 09:05 PM

Wednesday

Problem with late rains is that such rains typically accelerate melting of the snowpack and encourage growth of flashy fuels (grasses, etc.) that catch fire easily and accelerate the growth of wildfires.

Note: This post is the same as a post just made in California Forum.

Warpy

(114,616 posts)

8. That is certainly what we saw here in NM

Reply to PufPuf23 (Reply #2)

Wed Apr 1, 2026, 11:07 PM

Wednesday

where here in the big city, depth of winter temperatures were in the 50s and 60s wth next to no rain or snow. We just plain didn't have a winter this year

Rapid snow melt is obvious when the snow even on the high peaks is only a few inches deep instead of the several feet it's supposed to be.

I just wonder how early/how ong the Rio Grande will be dry here.

Buddyzbuddy

(2,641 posts)

3. Maybe we should be thinking more about water pipelines

Reply to riversedge (Original post)

Wed Apr 1, 2026, 10:18 PM

Wednesday

than oil pipelines.

NickB79

(20,360 posts)

4. How about NO?

Reply to Buddyzbuddy (Reply #3)

Wed Apr 1, 2026, 10:30 PM

Wednesday

Beyond the impossible logistics of piping water from the water-rich East and Midwest to the West over the Rockies, you better make those pipelines bullet-proof. Just saying.

lonely bird

(2,944 posts)

7. Not to mention

Reply to NickB79 (Reply #4)

Wed Apr 1, 2026, 10:44 PM

Wednesday

Canada might have something to say about the Great Lakes.

Buddyzbuddy

(2,641 posts)

9. Sounds like everything is a problem without solutions, ok.

Reply to NickB79 (Reply #4)

Wed Apr 1, 2026, 11:43 PM

Wednesday

That's no way to solve a problem or start a dialog.

Let's just say, I understand your concerns with the thought of my original post. Oil is a valuable commodity that can be difficult to live without.
H2o on the other hand is a resource that we can't live without. If the richest state (California) in the Nation can't figure out a solution, even if it involves agreements with cooperating states then this Nation will have bigger problems. Would you agree?

You have raised two legitimate issues.
Logistics and security.
If the first problem can't be solved then the second is of no concern.

NickB79

(20,360 posts)

12. If California can't live with their own water resources

Reply to Buddyzbuddy (Reply #9)

Thu Apr 2, 2026, 11:23 AM

17 hrs ago

Then California needs to contract. It's the reality of climate change now: some areas will become uninhabitable, and no amount of money can change that.

For example, California's agricultural industries. Water intensive crops and dairy have no place there any longer. Move back to the Midwest or go under. The rest of us either have to learn to live with canned or frozen produce in the winter or go without, just like out ancestors. No one is owed fresh strawberries and peppers in February, and we sure as hell aren't draining the Great Lakes for it.

Most people still don't grasp the severity of climate change and how drastically it will rework our lives and economies. Climate migration becomes cheaper than trying to keep a doomed system propped up.

Jimi du Ranty

(50 posts)

10. We should be talking about pipelines and desalination plants

Reply to Buddyzbuddy (Reply #3)

Thu Apr 2, 2026, 07:59 AM

21 hrs ago

These options take time and money to set up, so we should talk about them now.
The alternatives may include relocating humans to more habitable locations.
Alternatives may be forced upon us by conditions such as 130F temperatures.

Scruffy1

(3,534 posts)

5. The Elephant Butte reservoir on the Rio Grande is at 12.6 %.

Reply to riversedge (Original post)

Wed Apr 1, 2026, 10:41 PM

Wednesday

This is normally my water supply here in El Paso but last summer El Paso Water shifted mine to an aquifer . It doesn't look good since we are in the dry season until July or so.

lonely bird

(2,944 posts)

6. C'mon

Reply to riversedge (Original post)

Wed Apr 1, 2026, 10:43 PM

Wednesday

This is a Democrat hoax.

Just ask any Radicalized Reactionary.

samnsara

(18,769 posts)

11. The Pacific Northwest is gonna burn up..

Reply to riversedge (Original post)

Thu Apr 2, 2026, 08:29 AM

20 hrs ago

Ive already got my go box packed. I live in the woods and one way in and out.

Mysterian

(6,489 posts)

13. As the USA faces dire environmental crises,

Reply to riversedge (Original post)

Thu Apr 2, 2026, 07:40 PM

9 hrs ago

our federal government is made up of corrupt idiots and fools who will do nothing but make the problems worse. Billionaires have no water problems on their huge ranches, peons.

Reply to this discussion