Latest news with #snowmelt
The Guardian
5 days ago
- Climate
- The Guardian
Rapid snowmelt and Trump cuts compound wildfire fears in US west
Unusually warm springtime temperatures have contributed to rapid reductions in snowpacks across the western US that rival the fastest rates on record, increasing concerns around wildfire season. The rapid snowmelt, in addition to reduced staffing and budget constraints initiated by the Trump administration, has set the stage for a particularly dangerous season across the west, according to an analysis of publicly available data by the Guardian and interviews with experts in the region. The National Weather Service has issued flash flood warnings across the south-west this week as warm weather ushered in rainfall at higher than usual elevations, worsening the runoff. In several lower-elevation locations within the headwaters of the Colorado River, mountain terrain is already snow-free – the earliest complete-melting of snowpack on record. 'Such rapid melt rates are not normal,' according to a special update by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa) last month. All western states now have below-normal snowpacks, including California, where this season's snowfall was above average. About one-third of the western US is now in 'severe' drought or worse, the highest fraction in more than two years. This summer's seasonal wildfire forecast calls for a continuation of hot and dry weather, especially in the Pacific north-west. Experts now fear that quickly depleting mountains snows will limit summertime water availability in streams and rivers throughout the west, and may kick off a potential feedback loop that could intensify and expand the current drought. In addition to the ominous environmental conditions, federal fire crews are short-staffed due to accelerated retirements and staff reductions taking place across the myriad organizations that make up the nation's unified wildland firefighting force. Off-season training has been hampered by an across-the-board spending freeze instituted by Donald Trump and Elon Musk's 'department of government efficiency'. Some crews have reported constraints even on basic off-season necessities, like the inability to buy fuel for chainsaws during training exercises due to Doge setting purchase limits to $1. The reduced readiness state means that firefighters and their support teams, called incident management teams, could be quickly overwhelmed. 'The thing that has me really worried is that I don't think we're going to have enough incident management teams to handle all the large fires that are going to pop this year,' said Jim Whittington, a retired federal wildfire public affairs officer who is now a faculty member at Oregon State University. Incident management teams – which include skilled support staff such as meteorologists, cartographers and supply chain experts – are deployed on short notice whenever a prolonged and complex firefight emerges. Whittington and his colleagues estimate that cuts by the Trump administration mean federal agencies will be able to field about 15-20% fewer incident management teams this summer, even amid an outsized fire threat. At the regional level, Washington cut its wildfire prevention spending in half amid a state budget crisis, raising concern for public safety this summer. Oregon officials held a news conference last week to say that cuts to EPA, USFS and NWS staff will leave their state less prepared for this year's fires. Given that fire season is already on a record-setting pace in the prairie provinces of Canada, Whittington also expects limited support from international partners, furthering the burden for US fire crews. Sign up to First Thing Our US morning briefing breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what's happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion 'This may be the first year in memory where we have Canada and the US having overextended potential at the same time, and so I don't expect there to be a lot of help from up north,' said Whittington. 'That's going to create some cumulative fatigue issues as we head into late summer.' The National Weather Service itself is also dealing with its own staffing constraints, with forecast offices in Sacramento and Hanford, California, recently curtailing long-standing around-the-clock services. Some meteorologists receive special training to be able to forecast weather conditions around wildfires and are loaned to incident management teams as needed. Given this year's staffing constraints, however, they may need to stay at their home offices. The Trump administration's Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) is undergoing a comprehensive review. The rapid onset of summer-like conditions is a clear symptom of climate crisis, and has been occurring more frequently in the western US in recent years. There are more than a million homes in the wildland-urban interface in Washington state – about the same as in southern California – and the number is growing quickly. 'There's a good chance that the Wildland Fire Service will not be able to meet the expectations that we've created in the past,' said Whittington. 'I know they're going to bust their ass to try.' 'I think everybody who lives in fire country needs to have a really good plan this year and have some contingencies off those plans because you never can tell when you're going to be in the thick of it, and there just may not be the resources there that you expect there to be.'
CBS News
21-05-2025
- Climate
- CBS News
Abnormal snowpack melt in California, western U.S. increases wildfire and drought risks
The snowpack in California and other western U.S. states is melting at a record-breaking pace despite above-average snowfall in many areas, threatening an early start to the wildfire season and persistence of drought conditions, authorities announced. The National Integrated Drought Information System issued an update Tuesday warning of the rapid snowmelt because of above-normal temperatures and below-normal precipitation in April and May. The NIDIS said nearly all western basins are in late-season snow drought, an abnormally low snowpack for the time of year, even in areas that reached near to above-average water content in the snowpack during the winter. The rapid depletion of snow, along with increased evaporative demand - or how "thirsty" the atmosphere is for water - can quickly dry soils and vegetation and lead to the fire season's early start. "Snowmelt this time of year is common, but such rapid melt rates are not normal," the report stated. In some instances, the conditions can cause snow to transition from a solid to a gas, reducing the runoff into streams and reservoirs, according to the report. Stations in Nevada, Colorado, Utah, and New Mexico saw record early melt out, the report said. These areas, along with Southern California, Arizona, and portions of Washington, are locations where drought is likely to persist. Heightened wildland fire risk is also expected in California's Sierra Nevada and other areas of the state, as well as in Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, Colorado, southern Nevada, eastern Washington, and northern Idaho. The 6-10 day outlook from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Climate Prediction Center indicates above-normal temperatures across most of the West, which would accelerate snowmelt rates at the higher elevations where snow remains.
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Snowmelt lowers fire risk in northeastern New Mexico, but overall state is still parched
Despite the laments of a famous frog, it is easy being green. As late-season snow melted, northeastern New Mexico greened up this month, said service senior hydrologist Andrew Mangham for the National Weather Service's Albuquerque office. That's good news for fire risk. 'While you can't control the winds and the low humidities, that green ... makes those fuels less receptive to spreading fire,' Mangham said. 'So fire weather concerns are, in fact, muted up in the areas where we caught that snow because of the beneficial effects it's having on all the fuels.' Snowmelt has an important role in the state's water cycle. After recent snowfall in the northeastern corner of the state, the area is seeing relief from short-term drought conditions. But despite the recent precipitation windfall, long-term drought conditions probably aren't going away any time soon. Drought map Much of New Mexico still remains in some form of drought. The majority of the snow has already melted, although there's still some remaining near Santa Fe and Taos, Mangham said. That's left rivers around the Sangre de Cristo Mountains with higher-than-normal flows. Although some areas are seeing too much, too fast — Mangham said there have been reports of flooding in the Rociada area, when warm rain quickly melted snow — typically snowmelt provides a gentler form of hydration than the dramatic summer monsoons. 'But one of the reasons snowmelt is such an important component of our water supply is that it's a fundamentally different mode of delivery for water than the monsoon season,' Mangham said. 'It kind of slowly bleeds out, and that really gives it a chance to infiltrate and cause green up in the rivers and trees and forests.' The recent precipitation and snowmelt is a boon for short-term drought conditions in northeastern New Mexico, Mangham said. In the short term, drought can affect growing seasons, soil quality and rangelands. But it's not all good news. Long-term drought conditions, which impact the overall water supply, will likely endure, Mangham said. And while some parts of the state were saturated, others missed out. The southwestern corner of the state still experiencing high fire risk; while drought conditions improved slightly over last week, about 98% of the state is still experiencing some level of drought, according to National Weather Service data. 'A good spring that wets the ground and get some of the trees looking healthier doesn't make up for the fact that many of our forests are suffering from long-term drought stress,' Mangham said. 'That's why our piñon trees, for example, are starting to die off in certain parts of the state because they're just suffering from long-term drought stress.' Earlier this year, the state Forestry Division released a report showing tree deaths in the state's forest had more than doubled between 2023 and 2024. A coordinator for the service at the time said drought had been a long-time stressor on forests in the Southwest. The recent burst of precipitation didn't make up for the 'tremendously dry' winter, Mangham said. While the monsoon is an important part of the state's water cycle, the cyclical storms occur during hotter weather. When the rainwater spreads out, a significant amount is lost to evaporation. 'That snowpack, that winter water supply — the importance of that cannot be overestimated,' Mangham said.
CBC
18-05-2025
- Climate
- CBC
Mosquitoes emerge 'all at once' in Ottawa after spring melt, warm spell
A heavy snow melt and a snap warm spell have caused mosquitoes to emerge "all at once" in Ottawa, according to an expert in biting insects. David Beresford, a professor of biology at Trent University, said a steady supply of melting snow in eastern Ontario has left behind plenty of standing and still water — the preferred place for mosquitoes to lay their eggs. The young start growing as larvae in the water, he said, but recent warm temperatures would have pushed them to emerge. "It's different when we get that warm weather. It feels like they've come on all at once," Beresford said. "You'll go along and it'll be nothing, and then suddenly there's clouds of mosquitoes." The current crop of mosquitoes matured in a "big pulse," he said, and now are wasting no time finding something to eat. "When the females emerge — now they want blood," he said. "They're not going to hang around waiting for this. They're going to be looking for people to bite as soon as they get out of that water." Numbers difficult to predict Last May, Beresford said the Ottawa area had the perfect conditions for an "absolute onslaught" of mosquitoes. Looking back, however, reality didn't end up meeting expectations, he said. A dry period meant mosquitoes had "pretty well disappeared" by mid-summer, he said. "It's hard to know what's going to happen after that first pulse in the spring," he said. As well as drought, overly wet conditions can threaten mosquito populations, Beresford said, as overflowing ponds may introduce predators like beetles and other insects into the puddles where mosquitos have laid eggs. Regardless of the trends, the number of mosquitoes may vary significantly between neighbourhoods, with potential breeding grounds ranging from clogged eavestroughs to waterlogged holes in trees, Beresford said. Climate change could shift season Climate change could alter both the length and makeup of Canada's mosquito season, according to Robert Anderson, a research entomologist with the Canadian Museum of Nature. Canada is currently home to 82 species of mosquito, Anderson said, but a warming climate could draw new species north as well as encourage an earlier emergence for those already here. As for this spring, Anderson said he hasn't noticed anything especially unusual about the mosquitoes. "It's just a part of living in Canada," he said.
CBS News
12-05-2025
- Climate
- CBS News
Colorado's snowpack shrinking fast despite heavy May snowstorm
Even after up to 4 feet of snow fell across Colorado's mountains, the snowpack remains well below average. The statewide average is now down to 49%. CBS In an average year, Colorado's snowpack lasts into early June, but not this year. Statewide, the snowpack is expected to be halfway gone by around May 24, which is more than two weeks ahead of schedule. You may be wondering how 1–2 feet of snow had such little impact on the snowpack, and there are several explanations. Only 1 out of the past 7 months had above-average snowfall, and that was six months ago. April was especially dry, and one big May storm isn't enough to make up for the deficit built over the past six months. CBS Plus, temperatures on Monday and Tuesday will be in the 60s and 70s with breezy conditions. Wind combined with above-average temperatures accelerates snowmelt. The snowpack is our frozen reservoir, gradually melting through spring and often into early summer. With over 50% expected to be gone by around May 24, a wet and consistent monsoon season will be critical to help reduce fire risk, especially across southern Colorado.
