Winter is bringing a split-screen view of the US: bitter cold and blizzards in some regions, and bare ground and springlike temperatures across much of the West. In typically snow-reliable spots like Park City, Utah; Vail, Colorado; and Oregon's Cascade Range, snowpack is at record or near-record lows, with many slopes showing only a thin cover instead of the usual deep base, per the New York Times. From Dec. 1 to Jan. 15, temperatures in the Rockies, Cascades, and Sierra Nevada ran as much as 15 degrees above normal, turning what should have been snow into rain. Colorado is on track for its warmest winter since 1895, while Utah could set a record for lowest snowpack, per NBC News.
The lack of snow is hitting winter tourism. Mt. Bachelor in Oregon has about a quarter of the base it had a year ago and has closed lifts; Montana's Race to the Sky sled-dog event, along with others, has been scrapped for safety reasons. Vail Resorts reported that only 11% of its Rocky Mountain terrain was open in December, with early-season snowfall about 60% below normal. Lower-elevation resorts in Utah are relying heavily on artificial snow, which scientists note doesn't replicate the region's famed powder.
Beyond the ski economy, the snow shortfall is intensifying a decades-long Western megadrought and raising alarms over water for cities, farms, and ecosystems that depend on slow spring runoff. Mid- and low-elevation snow, which provides the bulk of that runoff, is especially thin or absent, with warm storms and atmospheric rivers melting what little had accumulated. Snowpack in the Colorado Rockies and parts of Oregon is the lowest since the 1980s, threatening flows in the Colorado River, which serves about 40 million people in the US and 2 million in Mexico. Experts say late-season storms could yet improve conditions—but absent another "miracle" spring, water managers are bracing for a difficult year, with increased risk for wildfires.
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