Western snow warnings

Much of the interior West is heading into late spring with mountain snowpack still far below normal, even after April storms briefly added fresh snow. (nrcs.usda.gov) Snowpack is the West’s biggest natural reservoir: snow piles up in winter, then melts into rivers, reservoirs and irrigation canals through spring and summer. The key measure is snow water equivalent, or how much liquid water is stored in the snow. (nrcs.usda.gov) The U.S. Department of Agriculture said April 1, 2026 measurements were at or near record lows across the western United States after a late start, early peak and rapid melt under sustained warmth. Drought.gov said many western basins peaked early and most Colorado River Basin forecast points were expected to produce less than 30% of average runoff. (nrcs.usda.gov, drought.gov) Idaho is one of the clearest warning signs. Natural Resources Conservation Service staff said the state’s snowpack peaked on March 17, nearly three weeks early, at 68% of normal, one of the lowest peaks since measurements began in the 1930s. (content.govdelivery.com, capitalpress.com) Erin Whorton, a water supply specialist with the Natural Resources Conservation Service in Idaho, said “Every Idahoan will feel the impacts of this low snow year” as streamflow peaks earlier and at lower levels. The Idaho Department of Water Resources said nearly all of the state’s basins were in drought conditions as of April 1. (content.govdelivery.com, idwr.idaho.gov) Colorado’s numbers are also grim. The Colorado Basin River Forecast Center said the roughly 250,000-square-mile Colorado River Basin was at about 25% of normal snowpack in early April, and Denver Water said its April 20 snowpack in the Colorado River Basin was 36% of normal and in the South Platte Basin just 7% of normal, both the lowest on record for that date. (coloradosun.com, denverwater.org) California got a burst of April snow, but the season’s deficit remained. The California Department of Water Resources found no measurable snow at Phillips Station on April 1 and said record-hot March weather erased the Sierra Nevada snowpack months ahead of schedule. (water.ca.gov) That shortfall is already changing decisions on the ground. In Colorado, state weather modification manager Andrew Rickert said the dry winter prompted new inquiries from two major ski resorts about cloud seeding, which tries to squeeze extra snow from passing storms by releasing particles into clouds. (kunc.org) Cloud seeding has limits. KUNC reported that at least nine states run cloud-seeding programs, but Colorado’s 2025-26 season still ended with historically bad snowpack, showing the technology can add to storms but cannot create a wet winter on its own. (kunc.org) The practical effect now is less water stored high in the mountains before the hottest months of the year. Federal and state forecasters are warning that runoff will arrive earlier, summer water supplies will be tighter, and the brief April rebound did not repair a winter that melted away too soon. (drought.gov, nrcs.usda.gov)