Record Pace of Snowmelt in US West Threatens Another Drought
Parts of the region spanning the West Coast to the lower Mountain West have less than half of the normal amount of snow typical at this time of year, the US National Integrated Drought Information System said in a statement. Some have nothing. Only parts of southern Oregon and a few places in Northern California are holding onto above-average snow pack.
The snowpack is vital to the region, which for more than 20 years has struggled with drought, leaving states struggling to maintain water supplies and contributing to wildfires. The lack of spring runoff also depletes hydroelectric capacity, a key power source for the West.
Though most areas received near-to-above-normal snow in winter, the quick melt caused much of it to change from solid to vapor, which has robbed rivers, streams and reservoirs of runoff needed to replenish water supplies.
'Snow melt this time of year is common, but such rapid melt rates are not normal,' the agency said. 'Some stations in Nevada, Colorado, Utah and New Mexico saw record early melt-out.'
Unlike the east, the western US gets most of its water through the winter months and depends on snowpack high in the mountains melting slowly through the spring and early summer to fill reservoirs and rivers. The water is then used for drinking and agriculture across through the summer and fall.
Arizona and New Mexico are often saved by their summer monsoon season, which starts in late June and July. Forecasters have been expecting a near-normal rainfall for those states.
The forecast through May 25 to 29 calls for continued high temperatures, the US Climate Prediction Center said. Just over half of the land in 11 western states is in drought, according to the US Drought Monitor.
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Business Standard
10-07-2025
- Business Standard
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Record-breaking temperatures seared the eastern US last month, leading to power emergencies across the region. The cause: an enormous ridge of high pressure that settled on the region, known as a heat dome. This phenomenon has also already struck Europe and China this summer, leading to the temporary closure of the Eiffel Tower and worries about wilting rice crops, respectively. But while heat domes are easy to identify once they strike, they remain difficult to forecast — a problematic prospect in a warming world. 'There is a world of difference between normal summer heat and record or near-record breaking extreme heat,'' said Scott Handel, lead forecaster at the US Climate Prediction Center. 'While normal summer heat can be dangerous, extreme heat can be particularly life threatening.' Heat dome is used to describe extreme heat waves to the general public that captures their menace, said Zach Zobel, a scientist at the Woodwell Climate Research Center. They occur when a large high pressure system settles over a specific area, baking it under stagnant air and the sun's unrelenting energy. That locks in more heat and can intensify the area of high pressure, creating a self-reinforcing cycle. Heat domes can occur at any time of year, but they're particularly dangerous during summer, with wide-ranging societal and economic impacts in the billions. Wildfires and droughts are often the byproduct of extreme heat and have caused some of the largest climate-related disasters in the US. From 1980 to 2024, 23 wildfires caused $147.9 billion in damage and killed 537 people while 32 droughts extracting a toll of $367.6 billion and killed 4,658, according to a database of billion-dollar disasters that was updated until this year by the US Centers for Environmental Information. Between 1979 and 2022, more than 14,000 Americans died directly from heat-related causes according to death certificates, the US Environmental Protection Agency said. In the summer of 2022, an estimated 61,672 people died from heat related causes, according to a July 2023 paper published in the journal of Nature Medicine. A prolonged heat dome can stress crops, particularly heavily traded corn and soybeans. Electricity prices and demand soar when temperatures rise and stay elevated for prolonged periods, said Anthony Chipriano, a forecaster at Vaisala. The dead, hot air under these massive systems can limit the tonnage carried by airliners, kink railroad tracks and crimp the output of wind turbines. For these reasons, meteorologists are opening their toolboxes to try and figure out where and when heat domes will strike. 'I don't have the same ability to predict heat domes like cold air outbreaks, but there are some trends,'' said Judah Cohen, director of seasonal forecasting at Atmospheric and Environmental Research Inc. Meteorologists know, for example, the jet stream — a river of fast-flowing air girdling the globe — naturally migrates northward in summer and they can measure how fast it moves. That metric is known as the Global Atmospheric Angular Momentum, and it's among the best predictors for heat domes, said Matt Rogers, president of the Commodity Weather Group. When the value is low, as it is two weeks ago, 'it can be a leading indicator of widespread, middle latitude heat ridges,'' he said. The latest indication from GLAAM is the return of relatively cooler weather, Rogers said. July is tracking warmer than the 30-year average but cooler than the mean of the last 10 years and the least hot since 2021, he said. Some weather phenomenon like the polar vortex can be spotted several weeks in advance while others like El Nino can be predicted months ahead of time. But heat domes have a much shorter lead time. The US National Weather Service studies probable outcomes of emerging weather patterns, said Handel of Climate Prediction Center, which is what allowed the agency to start issuing heat warnings ahead of the dome that gripped the East Coast even as the region experienced relatively cool weather. The service issued a moderate risk of extreme heat on June 13, when the high temperature in New York's Central Park was still just 78F. Ten days later, the temperature reached 96F, and it hit 99F the day after, both daily records. Federal forecasters also rely on statistical analysis of past patterns compared to what computer models are projecting as well as measures like soil moisture since drier land means higher temperatures to put their heat forecast together. Climate change has warmed the planet, particularly the high latitudes. That influences heat domes in two ways. The first is their northward migration. 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Time of India
17-06-2025
- Time of India
Fast-moving brush fire on Hawaii's Maui island evacuates about 50 people. No structures have burned
Fast-moving brush fire on Hawaii's Maui island evacuates about 50 people (Image: AP) A fast-moving Hawaii brush fire fuelled by fierce winds forced the evacuation of about 50 Maui residents on the opposite side of the same island where a devastating blaze killed over 100 people two years ago. The fire started Sunday in a sparsely populated area with land set aside for Native Hawaiians. Here's what we know about the fire so far: Fire size now estimated at 330 acres The Kahikinui was initially estimated at 500 acres (202 hectares), but aerial surveys overnight put the estimate at about 330 acres (134 hectares), Maui's fire department said. The fire is 85% contained. The remote, challenging terrain made it difficult to estimate the fire's size, the department said in a statement. A police drone showed hot spots, but none flared overnight. No injuries or structural damage was reported. Weather conditions were mostly sunny Monday with a high of 67 degrees Fahrenheit (19 degrees Celsius) and east winds of about 15 mph (24 kph), gusting up to about 25 mph (40 kph). The US Drought Monitor says all of Maui is in drought. Authorities conducted door-to-door evacuations and part of a highway remains closed. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Perdagangkan CFD Emas dengan Broker Tepercaya IC Markets Mendaftar Undo Flashbacks to an earlier fire Warren Aganos was on his family's Hawaiian Homelands lot preparing to go on a Father's Day hunt when a neighbour called him around 9 a.m. telling him a fire had broken out. "I hung up and raced out, I didn't let her finish," said Aganos, who has been slowly rebuilding the three structures his family lost in a 2016 brush fire that burned over 5,000 acres (2,000 hectares) in the same area. "I was thinking about the last one," he said. "It was super emotional." Aganos said he rushed in his truck to make sure first responders knew where the community's water storage tanks were before navigating Kahikinui's dirt roads down to the highway where he could see smoke billowing over the hillside. The community lacks electrical and water infrastructure, and some of the roads are only navigable by four-wheel drive. State and local leaders signed emergency proclamations so that the Hawaii National Guard can help and counties can access assistance. What is the region like? Kahikinui is less populated and developed than Lahaina, which was the Hawaiian Kingdom's capital in the 1800s and is now a popular tourist destination. Kahikinui was used for cattle ranching for many years and is near a state forest reserve. The fire department sent engines, tankers and a helicopter to battle the blaze. Three bulldozers cut firebreaks in the lower part of the community, Desiree Graham, co-chair of Kahikinui's firewise committee, said. The area has 104 Hawaiian homeland lots of 10 to 20 acres (4 to 8 hectares) each. About 40 lots have homes, including 15 with full-time residents. Some lots have more than one home, Graham said. A state agency issues lot leases under a program Congress created in 1921 to help Native Hawaiians become economically self-sufficient. Those with at least 50% Hawaiian blood quantum can apply for a 99-year lease for $1 a year. Fire devastated Lahaina nearly two years ago Maui is still recovering from the massive inferno that enveloped Lahaina in August 2023. That fire was the deadliest in the US in more than a century. It destroyed thousands of properties and caused an estimated $5.5 billion in damage. University of Hawaii researchers say unemployment and poverty rose after the blaze. The Kahikinui fire may seem small compared to continental US fires, but it's significant for an island of 735 square miles (1,903 square kilometres). Other Western fires Crews also are battling wildfires in the Pacific Northwest, around the Great Basin, in California and the Rockies. National Weather Service forecasters and federal land managers have warned in recent weeks that fire danger is escalating in many places amid rising daytime temperatures and single-digit humidity levels. The risks won't start to wane - at least in the southwestern US - until the monsoon starts to kick in, bringing much-needed rain. In southern New Mexico, a wildfire ballooned to nearly 30 square miles (78 square kilometres) over the weekend in the Gila National Forest. The flames forced the evacuations of homes that dot the mountains north of Silver City, blocked access to the Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument and prompted air quality warnings as smoke drifted north. Campgrounds and access points to the Continental Divide National Scenic Trail also were closed. 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Time of India
21-05-2025
- Time of India
West US does not have enough water and the reason is record snowmelt
The western United States has long grappled with water scarcity , but a record-breaking snowmelt due to heat waves this year is pushing the region toward a full-blown crisis. "Our reservoirs are not filling up the way they should," says Jessica Martinez, an irrigation specialist in Colorado. "This threatens crops and the electricity grid." The snowpack, crucial for water storage and steady supply, is disappearing rapidly across the region from the West Coast to the Mountain West. Play Video Pause Skip Backward Skip Forward Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration 0:00 Loaded : 0% 0:00 Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 1x Playback Rate Chapters Chapters Descriptions descriptions off , selected Captions captions settings , opens captions settings dialog captions off , selected Audio Track default , selected Picture-in-Picture Fullscreen This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Opaque Semi-Transparent Text Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Caption Area Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Drop shadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Dukung Orang Terkasih Menghadapi Limfoma: Mulai Di Sini Limfoma Baca Undo According to the US National Integrated Drought Information System, some areas have less than half the typical snowpack, with parts of Nevada, Colorado, Utah, and New Mexico experiencing record early melt-out. Also Read : World's wealthiest one per cent responsible for one-fifth of global warming Live Events Only scattered regions in southern Oregon and northern California maintain above-average snow levels. Unlike the eastern US, the West relies heavily on winter snowfall. Snowpack high in the mountains acts as a natural reservoir, gradually melting through spring and early summer to supply water for drinking and agriculture well into the dry months. Economic impact of rapid snowmelt The swift snowmelt will leave rivers and reservoirs dangerously depleted. This runoff is crucial to agriculture, drinking water, and hydroelectric power, which is an essential energy source for western states. Businesses in farming and utilities are already bracing for reduced water availability, potentially leading to increased operational costs and production slowdowns. Also Read: The world's biggest companies have caused $28 trillion in climate damage Wildfire risk and energy supply challenges The rapid snowmelt also signals an early wildfire season, increasing risk for communities and commercial assets. Additionally, with less water flowing into hydroelectric plants, energy companies face challenges maintaining renewable power output, potentially pushing up energy prices. Arizona and New Mexico usually benefit from the summer monsoon starting late June, but the ongoing drought and heat exacerbate uncertainty for water-dependent businesses. The US Climate Prediction Center forecasts continued high temperatures through late May, worsening drought conditions that already affect over half the land in 11 western states. 'The situation demands urgent adaptation by businesses and policymakers to secure water and energy resilience,' says environmental analyst Dr. Mark Ellis.
