Across much of the Western United States, winter 2026 was the year the snow never came. Many ski resorts got by with snowmaking but shut down their winter operations early . Fire officials and water supply managers are worried about summer.

Where I live in Boise, Idaho, temperatures hit the low 80s Fahrenheit (high-20s Celsius) in mid-March. The same heat dome sent temperatures soaring to 105° F (40° C) in Phoenix.

Ordinarily, water managers and hydrologists like me who study the Western US expect the mountain snowpacks to be at their fullest around April 1 . Snowpacks are natural reservoirs of water that farms and communities depend on through the hot, dry summer. Their snow water equivalent , meaning the amount of liquid water in the snowpack, is seen as a bellwether for water supplies.

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