snow

Warming during February and March since the 1980s has driven declines in snowpack in the Rocky Mountains of western North America, according to a recent study published in Geophysical Research Letters.

A new airborne mission—a collaboration between NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the California Department of Water Resources—is able to measure the amount of water held in snowpack in two mountain watersheds in the U.S., allowing scientists to better estimate t

The Southwest U.S. will continue to get warmer over the 21st century, with fewer cold waves and longer, hotter heat waves, according to an expansive new book published by Island Press.

Temperatures in March were well below average for the nation as a whole, but above average in many states in the Southwest, according to the latest State of the Climate from NOAA.

Temperatures this past winter (December – February) were 1.9 degrees F above average for the contiguous U.S., making the season the 20^th warmest winter on record for the country, according to the latest State of the Climate from NOAA.

Dust from the Sahara desert and Asia influences precipitation in the Sierra Nevada of California, precipitation that the region counts on for its water supply, according to a new study published in Science.

It was a tale of two states over the past 30 days, with cold, wet conditions in most of Arizona and warm, dry conditions in most of New Mexico, according to the February Southwest Climate Outlook from CLIMAS.

Streamflow forecasts across the Southwest predict below-average flows in almost every basin in the West, with significant declines in some states, including Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, and Colorado.

Drought conditions persist throughout almost all of Arizona and New Mexico, and if another dry winter emerges many of the regions’ reservoir volumes will continue to decline, posing serious water-supply challenges in several areas, according to the January Climate Outlook from CLIMAS.

Temperatures during late November and early December were more than 2 degrees F above average in Arizona and New Mexico, according to the December Climate Outlook from CLIMAS. In fact, in many parts of eastern New Mexico, temperatures were as high as 6 degrees F above average.