PCT snowpack is shockingly low
West Coast snowpack readings for parts of the Pacific Crest Trail are as low as 4% of normal, which can mean easier early snow travel but creates other hazards. (backpacker.com) The same reporting warns of early river peaks, drying water sources, and a heightened wildfire risk later in the season. (backpacker.com)
Snowpack along parts of the Pacific Crest Trail has collapsed to single digits of normal just as the 2026 hiking season begins. (backpacker.com) Backpacker reported April 17 that the Klamath Basin in Northern California was at 4% of its 30-year median in one snapshot, and a related report the same day put the basin at 6% of median snow-water equivalent, the standard measure of how much water is stored in snow. (backpacker.com, backpacker.com) The same April 17 report said Oregon’s Willamette and Deschutes basins were at 13% and 17% of median, while the southern Sierra was around 66% and the northern Cascades around 70%, with warm weather accelerating melt. (backpacker.com) Snow-water equivalent is the liquid water locked inside snow, and agencies use it to estimate spring runoff. The U.S. Department of Agriculture says its Snow and Water Interactive Map tracks that data in real time using SNOTEL and snow-course measurements. (nrcs.usda.gov) For hikers, less snow can mean fewer miles of ice axe travel in the High Sierra near Kennedy Meadows and Forester Pass. It also means the runoff pulse is arriving early, which can shift the dangerous river-crossing window earlier into spring. (backpacker.com) Andy Reising of the California Department of Water Resources told Backpacker that runoff usually peaks after April 1, but in 2026 “the majority of it is coming off a month or five weeks early.” That compresses the season when creeks are high and shortens the season when snowmelt keeps springs and caches replenished. (backpacker.com) California’s broader numbers are also grim. State data for April 14 showed snow water content at 12% of average for the northern Sierra, 27% for the central Sierra, 29% for the southern Sierra, and 23% of average statewide for that date. (cdec.water.ca.gov) Federal drought officials said on April 9 that Oregon set a record-low April 1 snow-water equivalent this year, California logged its second-lowest April 1 value, and peak snow-water equivalent across Western states arrived an average of 21 to 34 days early. (drought.gov) That early melt points to two different trail problems later in the season: water sources can dry up sooner in Southern California and Oregon, and cured vegetation can burn sooner when summer heat and wind arrive. Backpacker advised hikers to carry enough water for long dry stretches and to monitor fire and weather reports in California, Oregon, and Washington. (backpacker.com) Washington is not as depleted as California and Oregon, but state climatologist Karin Bumbaco told Backpacker that October through February ranked as Washington’s third-warmest water year start since 1895, with precipitation too often falling as rain instead of mountain snow. That leaves 2026 Pacific Crest Trail hikers trading one classic hazard — deep snow — for a season shaped by earlier runoff, scarcer water, and a longer fire window. (backpacker.com)
