Above-median Snowpack Starts Winter for Most of the West

The Natural Resources Conservation Service produces this weekly report using data and products from the National Water and Climate Center and other agencies. The report focuses on seasonal snowpack, precipitation, temperature, and drought conditions in the U.S.

Heavy snow from a recent cold atmospheric river provided welcome moisture to the West. A series of storms have left the snowpack well above median in the Cascade Mountains, Sierra Nevada, the intermountain West, and southern Alaska. Farther east, in the Rocky Mountains, the snowpack ranges from above- to near-median conditions for this time of year. The central and southern east slope of the Rockies into the Black Hills have missed much of the snow so far. Though the snow water equivalent percentages are exceptionally high in some parts, the median values for this time of year are very small because it is early in the snowpack season. Additional strong storms with heavy snow are forecasted for this weekend, with expected totals of six inches in the southern Sierra and over three feet in the North Cascades.  Open report>>