More Rain, Less Snow At Beginning & End Of Rocky Mountain Winters, Study Shows

[hatrack]

SALT LAKE CITY -- The Rocky Mountains are seeing more rain than snow at the start and end of winter, an indication of global warming, an expert said. Another sign of climate change: The spring snowmelt is starting a week earlier than it did 50 years ago. Both trends could shorten the ski season.

The Rockies, however, are expected to handle the changes better than New England, where low-elevation ski areas are more vulnerable to dwindling snowpacks. And Utah and Colorado's ski areas, commonly found near 10,000 feet in elevation, could benefit from feeble winters in the East. "They won't be able to ski in New England. They'll have to come to Utah," said Kevin Trenberth, a climate expert who gave a lecture Wednesday at the University of Utah.

Trenberth, head of the climate-analysis section of the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colo., said climate change could make the arid West even drier, setting loose other problems.

The dwindling snowpacks are more evident at lower elevations in the Rockies, leaving many of the ski areas secure for now, he said. But combined with an earlier spring, shrinking snowpacks rob moisture from the soil at the start of growing season. "It sets the stage for drought," he said.

EDIT

http://www.casperstartribune.net/articles/2006/11/30/news/wyoming/1a0f4386fcf7013d872572360001deed.txt

[jwirr]

1. Here in MN we were supposed to have a big snow storm last week

but instead we got heavy rain. This has happened before of course but we don't even have snow on the ground in the Arrowhead region.

[Delphinus]

2. It's raining right now ...

expected 1 to 2 inches of rain, here in NE Indiana! It's December (shy one day) and we're still getting rain! Just this morning I was wondering to myself if this is an aspect of global warming. Thanksgiving last week was so warm - in the high 50's, low 60's. Not "normal" for this area for this time of year.