Mitch Tobin

Durango

Co-director of @TheWaterDesk at the University of Colorado Boulder and author of https://t.co/IOhQIGYGpl @snownewsnow, a free multimedia newsletter.

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Articles

Q&A: Snow droughts imperil the American West’s water supply

1 week ago | waterdesk.org | Mitch Tobin

In recent years, scientists and water managers have started using the term “snow drought” to describe meager snowpacks in the American West. A snow drought can come about in two main ways. A “dry” snow drought happens when not enough snow falls, leading to a diminished snowpack. A “warm” snow drought occurs when precipitation is near or above normal, but higher temperatures cause raindrops to fall instead of snowflakes, or when warm weather causes the snowpack to shrink rapidly.
Scientists use cosmic rays to study the snowpack

2 months ago | waterdesk.org | Mitch Tobin

Red Mountain Pass, Colorado – Cosmic rays come from outer space. These high-energy particles, which emanate from the sun but also from beyond our galaxy, travel across the universe, nearly at the speed of light, to reach Earth. Our atmosphere and magnetic field shield us from cosmic rays, but secondary particles shower down and reach ground level.
Taking stock of the spring snowpack

2 months ago | waterdesk.org | Mitch Tobin

April 1, the midpoint in the water year, is an important milestone for scientists, water managers, and others who track the American West’s snowpack. Each watershed has its own typical peak date for the snowpack, but in many places, April 1 has been a traditional moment for taking stock of how the spring snowpack is stacking up. Accordingly, I’ve collected a variety of maps and charts below that illustrate the state of play on April 1.
9 graphics that visualize EPA’s climate change indicators for snow

Mar 6, 2025 | snow.news | Mitch Tobin

Here’s a story I just wrote for The Water Desk, a program at the University of Colorado Boulder’s Center for Environmental Journalism that I co-direct. I can’t vouch for its shelf life in the Trump administration, but the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency continues to publish a revealing set of indicators of climate change impacts, including 14 connected to snow and ice.
9 graphics that visualize EPA’s climate change indicators for snow

Mar 6, 2025 | waterdesk.org | Mitch Tobin

I can’t vouch for its shelf life in the Trump administration, but the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency continues to publish a revealing set of indicators of climate change impacts, including 14 connected to snow and ice. These data sets, many of them visualized with simple maps and time-series charts, show the unmistakable effects of warming and cover a wide range of subjects, including public health, ecosystems and oceans.
Rain or snow? Observers help scientists understand wintry weather

Feb 10, 2025 | waterdesk.org | Mitch Tobin

Sometimes snow falls when the air temperature is warmer than water’s freezing point of 32° Fahrenheit. Figuring out the dividing line between rain and snow has long flummoxed forecasters, especially in places like the high country of the American West, where complex topography and dramatic elevation differences shape the weather. The fuzziness of the boundary can have life-or-death implications. If rain falls on top of snow, that can cause disastrous flooding.
An illustrated glossary of snow-related terms

Jan 6, 2025 | waterdesk.org | Mitch Tobin

I’ve been a generalist most of my career, sometimes even working as a “general assignment reporter,” so I frequently find myself trying to learn about new subjects and bodies of research. After many self-imposed crash courses, I know that one of the most helpful steps is to understand the terminology used in an issue or field.
Tip sheet: monitoring the West’s snowpack

Nov 19, 2024 | waterdesk.org | Mitch Tobin

If you’re looking to gauge the depth and extent of the West’s snowpack, there are tons of helpful resources online that offer data, maps and graphics on both current and historical conditions. This page offers a tip sheet to help navigate a variety of sites and briefly explains some of the technologies used to generate the data behind the visuals.
Climate change and the snowpack: an annotated bibliography

Nov 19, 2024 | waterdesk.org | Mitch Tobin

How is climate change affecting the West’s snowpack? What are the projections for the future? Numerous scientific reports and studies in recent years have tried to answer these questions and others. Below is an annotated bibliography of key scientific works related to climate change and the snowpack, focusing on the American West. At the bottom of the post is a list of recent journalism covering the issue. Have a suggestion for a new study or story to add? Please contact me by email.
WATER DESK: Post-fire study finds snowpack melts earlier

Nov 8, 2024 | mavensnotebook.com | Mitch Tobin

Loss of forest canopy and deposition of ash alter forest hydrologyBy Mitch Tobin, Water DeskAs the American West warms, there’s a growing intersection between wildfires and the mountain snowpack that supplies the bulk of the water in many rivers and reservoirs. Fire is a natural and beneficial component of many Western ecosystems, but blazes are now reaching higher elevations, raising questions about how the snowpack behaves in burned areas—and how downstream users and species will be affected.