The tides are rising in the West. Last week, post-drive across the sagebrush sea and pre-drive out to the Rockies, on December 20th, we posted a Winter Solstice SWE (snow water equivalent) survey. As every reader who lives in or frequents the West knows, the theme has been low tide.
However, the models have proven correct, and the powers have tilted SWE in our favor. On a call early today with Anchorage-based Alex Lee, the good folks in AK do not want frozen precipitation. So there is that. For those in the lower 48: we are wanting. But, perhaps, we want slightly less than we did 48 hours ago, as the promised troughs rolling off the Pacific deliver.
We temper our optimism with the reality that a powder day, or even a handful of powder days, doesn’t shift the possibility of severe drought in the West towards a less bleak prognosis. But, the prognosis is shifting—and we are psyched.
Here’s a SWE snapshot from the USDA’s National Water and Climate Center
A deep contrast between SWE in AK and the lower 48 (Western basins) on December 20, 2023.
Yes, AK….you still got it. SWE on Jan. 7, 2024.
SWE on December 20, 2023.
SWE on Jan. 1, 2024.
SWE on Jan. 7, 2024.
