Snow has been melting at rapid rates throughout the region, including in the Rocky Mountains, and that could mean increased fire danger and water supply issues.
Earlier this year, mountains in Northern Colorado had a lot of snow, even above average at some ski resorts. Then, in April, a spring heat wave hit, bringing high temperatures and clear skies.
“We haven't seen that much snow melt before at a lot of these locations,” said Dan McEvoy, a researcher at the Western Regional Climate Center. “So it was more than just a minor anomaly.”
According to McEvoy, snow melted up to three weeks earlier than normal. He said this kind of rapid melting is expected in the warmer, dryer southwest states, like Nevada and New Mexico, but this spring, almost every major mountain range in the region saw a big melt, including ones in Wyoming, Montana, Idaho and Utah.
Just between April 10 and 17, data from the National Resources Conservation Service reveals record melting at sites in each of those states.
McEvoy said that means more water is being lost to the atmosphere, instead of turning into run-off going into streams or reservoirs.
“That leaves the soil and the vegetation more exposed, less time under the snow, more time for drying out, getting crispy and turning into fuel moisture for wildfires,” McEvoy explained.
He said we’re likely to see increased fire risk throughout the region in the weeks and months to come, and strained water supplies in the Colorado River Basin.
Utah has already declared a state of emergency in 17 counties because of drought conditions.
This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between Wyoming Public Media, Nevada Public Radio, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, KUNR in Nevada, KUNC in Colorado and KANW in New Mexico, with support from affiliate stations across the region. Funding for the Mountain West News Bureau is provided in part by CPB.
