Skiers May Not Be Surprised by NOAA’s Snow Drought Update, but It Still Hurts

Skiers closely watching the forecast won’t be surprised to hear this news: according to NOAA, much of the West faces a snow drought as the 2025-26 season gets underway.

The agency shared a screenshot of a map published by the National Resources Conservation Service covered in red markers, indicating a lack of snow. 

The map catalogs snow water equivalent (SWE) totals—the measure of the amount of water contained in the snow pack—and in almost every basin being measured, the SWE has dipped well below the median.

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The problem isn’t a lack of precipitation.

NOAA noted that precipitation is near or above average in many parts of the West. However, because of warm temperatures, this precipitation is falling as rain rather than snow. The agency added that nearly every major river basin has seen a November among the top five warmest on record.

Washington is one example. 

This month, the state has been pounded by rain, with devastating flooding impacting many communities. A National Weather Service Flood Watch remains in effect for much of Western Washington through Thursday afternoon, and local ski resorts have been left in a holding pattern. Had the temperature been a bit colder, though, feet of snow would have fallen at the mountains during the atmospheric rivers.

Sierra Nevada in California, the Cascade Range in Washington and Oregon, the Blue Mountains of Oregon, and the Great Basin in Nevada are the areas where the snow drought is the most severe. That includes the slopes of popular mountains like Palisades Tahoe, Crystal Mountain, and Timberline Lodge.

While the rain has saturated reservoirs and the soil, NOAA cautioned that continued warm weather could worsen drought conditions. Snow acts as a natural reservoir, holding water during the colder months. As the mountains thaw, they release this snow into rivers, delivering water to communities, forests, and farms, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. 

But the agency also had somewhat encouraging news for skiers still waiting for powder: A single storm can dramatically change the snowpack this early in the season.  

Plus, such a storm is poised to hit states across the Northwest and the Northern Rocky Mountains this week. 

Chris Tomer, a meteorologist known by skiers for his mountain forecasts, is eyeing a cycle of wintry weather set to deliver snow—perhaps feet of it—through December 22. 

Those flakes could hit Washington, producing as much as three feet of snow in the Cascades and the Olympics, accompanied by intense winds, according to the National Weather Service, which issued a Winter Storm Watch on Monday. 

Further east, Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana are also looking at a week of heavy snow. At Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, Tomer pegged the storm cycle total at 26 inches. Whistler Blackcomb, British Columbia, meanwhile, may get buried by 64 inches of snow if the forecast holds.

Related: “Skiing Is Supposed To Be Fun”—A Lesson Every Sports Dad Could Learn From