The Sky is not Falling…Yet. January SWE

Alerted by the Utah Governor’s call to action yesterday, Cox calls for prayer again as Utah’s snowpack nears record low, reads the KSL.com headline. Cox is quoted as saying, “We know that when people of all different faiths and backgrounds join together and plead for help from a higher power, remarkable things can happen.” Regardless of your spiritual preferences and anyone’s ability to align their chakras and impact widespread weather patterns, snow dancing aside, maybe Governor Cox has a point. In all seriousness, as many know, as this historic drought continues, currently manifesting in a lack of snowfall, there’s more at stake here than simply sharpening your edges. With a bit less than two months before what most historic indices mark as peak SWE, from a moisture perspective, things look mighty grim in the western U.S. Expect more calls to prayer and more alarm from those dealing with potential wildfires and water-use restrictions in the coming months.  But,…we’re here for the ascent and the turns. Thinking of smile quotients, many SWE totals at the higher elevations are trending toward normal. Which means ambitious folks can find proper riding. Further, across the region, high pressure has generally been locked in, with little to no snowfall (except for the recent dump in Colorado—it looks like Crested Butte received upwards of two feet of snow). With our collective ears to the ground, with stable avalanche conditions, it’s our understanding that many ski and board tourists are doing their due diligence and finding what they need to make a go of it this winter. But here’s the trigger warning: If you have an adverse reaction to the color red, or red-adjacent colors (orange/yellow) for any reason, maybe now is the time to turn away.    Ok. So maybe not too bad if you’re not a rancher, farmer, or salmon or trout, but for those of us looking for less than teeth-chattering conditions, the colorways represented above ain’t pretty. Up to the home of spines and real good sockeye: AK. A mixed bag, certainly. The coasts remain in the 3/4-full department, while the central/interior ranges look bleak, trending toward Russia. In contrast, moving toward our friendly neighbors to the east, in Canada, looks more promising. Down in the Lower 48, Washington and Oregon present slightly different narratives. A closer look at Washington reveals a barely-hanging-in-there situation. Ranges closer to Puget Sound are suffering, while pockets here and there in the central and eastern parts of the state are improving—barely. Oregon, on the other hand, looks downright dessicted. We know some people there, and that place is pretty desiccated. While the warmer-than-normal temps and sunshine have softened southerly aspects for some midday corn, expect auditory sensations more akin to ski edges side-slipping on a water-impregnated World Cup course.  The story in the Sierra, and further afield into basin and range country (but damn, Nevada is mountainous), is also one of salty tears and sorrow…for the most part. This is one of those stories where we hope, as […]