Winter melt trends portend widespread declines in snow water resources

Mountain snowpack declines are often tracked using snow water equivalent trends sensitive to highly variable precipitation. Observational work proposes temperature-driven daily snowmelt during the accumulation season as an alternative metric, with increases that are three times more widespread. In many mountainous regions, winter precipitation accumulates as snow that melts in the spring and summer, which provides water to one billion people globally. Climate warming and earlier snowmelt compromise this natural water storage. Although snowpack trend analyses commonly focus on the snow water equivalent (SWE), we propose that trends in the accumulation season snowmelt serve as a critical indicator of hydrological change. Here we compare long-term changes in the snowmelt and SWE from snow monitoring stations in western North America and find 34% of stations exhibit increasing winter snowmelt trends (P < 0.05), a factor of three larger than the 11% showing SWE declines (P < 0.05). Snowmelt trends are highly sensitive to temperature and an underlying warming signal, whereas SWE trends are more sensitive to precipitation variability. Thus, continental-scale snow water resources are in steeper decline than inferred from SWE trends alone. More winter snowmelt will complicate future water resource planning and management.

Automated summary

The decline in mountain snowpack is often tracked using snow water equivalent trends, however, an alternative metric known as temperature-driven daily snowmelt during the accumulation season is showing greater increases. Winter precipitation in mountainous regions provides water for one billion people globally, but climate warming and earlier snowmelt are threatening this natural water storage. Snowmelt trends are highly sensitive to temperature, indicating a steeper decline in continental-scale snow water resources compared to trends in snow water equivalent.