Snow drought in the San Juans, CO

Below normal snow conditions are being seen across the Western U.S., with much of California, Oregon, Utah, Nevada, Arizona, and Southern Colorado at a 25% or less snow water equivalent than the 30 year median.

Photo from McMillan Peak in the San Juan Mountains of Southern Colorado on December 28, 2017.

​Not the best of skiing days..... but this should be the least of our worries given that this is the time of year that our mountain water towers should be storing water as snow to be released as melt water during spring and summer months.

While temperatures have been cold enough for precipitation to fall as snow for the past several weeks, storm tracks have mostly steered clear of the southwestern U.S. 

To learn more about snow drought, how it comes to be, and what it means for the western U.S., check out this article on AGU's EOS:

​https://eos.org/opinions/defining-snow-drought-and-why-it-matters