February 2026 State of the Western U.S. Snowpack: Trending in the Wrong Direction Across much of the U.S., this winter has struggled to build a consistent snowpack, with February levels tracking well below what is typical for this point in the season. A pattern of weaker storms and inconsistent cold has limited both snowfall totals and the long-term base needed to support a strong spring snowpack. Related: Mt. Hood Skibowl, OR, to Suspend […] Weather Brent Glogau | February 2, 2026 0 Comments
January 2026 State of the Western U.S. Snowpack: Still Well Below Average with Some Bright Spots and Hope Happy New Year. Winter is beginning to take shape across the Western U.S., although it’s still slow in some places, leaving some unhappy. Last month, the snowpack was so abysmal that many skiers and snowboarders still hadn’t had their first days on the mountain. The continued slow start to the season has January snowpack levels well below typical depths for […] Weather Brent Glogau | January 2, 2026 1 Comment
Western U.S. Experiences Slowest Start to Winter in Decades—But Just How Bad Is It? There is no question that this winter is off to a strange start. Arizona Snowbowl has received 57 inches of snow so far this season, ski resorts across the midwest stacked up over a foot of snow after Thanksgiving, and Jay Peak, Vermont broke a 25-year-old record, logging 100 inches of snowfall by Thanksgiving. Yet, across the western part of […] Brains Zach Armstrong | December 3, 2025 0 Comments
December 2025 State of the Western U.S. Snowpack: Well Below Average and Downright Abysmal in Places It’s the start of December, and winter is beginning to take shape across the Western U.S., though it’s been slow in some places. By this time of year, many skiers and snowboarders should have had their first days on the mountain; however, many ski areas haven’t had enough snow to open yet. The slow start to the season has December snowpack levels well […] Weather Brent Glogau | December 1, 2025 1 Comment
How the U.S. Snowpack is Shaping Up as Ski Season Kicks Off in November It’s early November, and winter is starting to take shape across the Western U.S. With colder temperatures settling in and the first real storms rolling through, it’s a good time to check in on how the snowpack is forming compared to historical averages. The snowpack builds gradually through the season as layers from each storm settle and compact. When storms […] Weather Brent Glogau | November 10, 2025 0 Comments
Snow Water Equivalent: What Is It and Why Is It So Important? Skiing is a wonderful activity that wouldn’t be possible without snow. To put it simply, snow is very complex. It can do all sorts of things once it has hit the ground: turn into different shapes, gain and lose stability, and more. However, something that comes up a lot when talking about snow before and while it’s falling is snow water equivalent (SWE). Snow […] Brains Clay Malott | February 24, 2021 0 Comments
SWE: The Difference Between Blower Pow and Mashed Potatoes If you’ve skied blower powder or struggled through thigh-burning turns in fresh mashed potatoes, you’ve experienced SWE. SWE stands for snow water equivalent. The SWE of a particular snowfall can make for an epic powder day, a struggle through heavy snow, or even create dangerous avalanche conditions. Basically, SWE can be thought of as the amount of water covering the […] Lynn Barlow | September 5, 2020 1 Comment
Measuring Snow Water Equivalent (SWE): A Job For NASA NASA is on a mission to accurately measure the world’s snow water equivalent (SWE), but why do we care? SWE is a calculation of how much liquid water is in a given snowpack or the depth of the snowpack multiplied by the density. If you are a winter recreator you are probably familiar with SWE even if you have never […] Brains Alex Camerino | July 17, 2020 0 Comments
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