Researchers from the University of California, Irvine, with support from NIDIS, have developed a new framework for characterizing snow droughts around the world. Using the framework to analyze conditions from 1980 to 2018, the researchers found a 28 percent increase in the length of intensified snow-water deficits in the western United States during the second half of the study period. Analysis using the new framework shows prolonged snow droughts in California, Oregon, Washington and other Western states, and, to a lesser extent, Eastern Russia and Europe over the nearly four-decade term studied. 

For more information, please contact Adam Lang (adam.lang@noaa.gov).