In central Alaska, snowpack totals were closer to average. In Alaska, below-average snowpack was observed from southern coastal regions into the panhandle. Most locations in the Northern and Central Rockies had snowpack totals closer to average, while the southern Rockies of Arizona had much-below average snowpack. According to the USDA, as of February 1 st, mountain snowpack from the Sierra Nevada Mountains in California, northward through the Cascades of Oregon and Washington was less than 25 percent of the 1981-2010 median. January was very warm and dry in the West causing much of the December snow to melt, severely limiting the snowpack. Above-average precipitation across the West during December boosted snowpack at the highest elevations, but above-average temperatures caused most of the precipitation in lower elevations to fall as rain. ![]() The total annual water budget for agriculture and human use in the mountainous West is highly dependent on the amount of snow melt that will occur in spring and is proportional to the amount of snow on the ground. Winter and spring mountain snowpack provide a crucial water source across much of the western United States. At month's end, the northern Cascades, most of the Rockies, the Midwest, and the Northeast were snow covered. Warm temperatures the third week of January across much of the country caused the snow footprint to drop to 25.0 percent, but two storms at the end of the month caused the snow cover footprint to jump to 29.8 percent of the contiguous U.S. ![]() Monthly snow cover peaked on the 4 th with 54.1 percent of the Lower 48 having snow on the ground. had snow on the ground - the Cascades, the Central and Northern Rockies and Plains, parts of the Upper Midwest, and northern New England. The warm and dry conditions in the West limited snowfall across the region, contributing to worsening long-term drought conditions.Īccording to NOAA's National Snow Analysis, at the beginning of January, 46.2 percent of the contiguous U.S. ![]() Most locations were drier than average, particularly the West Coast and parts of the Central Rockies and Plains. Below-average temperatures were observed in the Northeast and parts of the South. During January, most locations across the western half of the country were warmer than average - the farther west the larger the departures from average.
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