Why Climate Scientists Are Measuring the Temperature of Snow in the Mountains
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The pair of climate researchers from the Desert Research Institute (DRI) in Reno, Nevada, skied down to this research plot in the middle of the resort to test a new method for measuring the temperature of the Sierra Nevada snowpack. They used an experimental infrared device that takes readings as it’s lowered into a hole in the snow down to the ground.
The Sierra’s frozen reservoir supplies about a third of California’s water and most of what comes out of faucets, shower heads, and sprinklers in the towns and cities of northwestern Nevada. As it melts through the spring and summer, dam operators, water agencies, and communities must manage the flow of billions of gallons of runoff, ensuring they store enough to navigate the dry summer months without flooding reservoirs and canals.
The need for better snowpack temperature data has become increasingly critical for predicting when water will flow down the mountains, as climate change contributes to hotter weather, faster snow melt, and rapid swings between very wet and very dry periods. Historically, gathering such snowpack observations has been labor-intensive. However, a new generation of tools, techniques, and models aims to facilitate this process, improve water forecasts, and assist California and other states in managing one of their largest water sources amidst growing concerns of severe droughts and flooding. Observers worry, however, that these advances could be hindered by federal budget cuts affecting agencies responsible for snowpack monitoring and survey work. This could jeopardize ongoing efforts to produce essential water data and forecasts relied upon by Western communities.
“If we don’t have those measurements, it’s like driving your car around without a fuel gauge,” says Larry O’Neill, Oregon’s state climatologist. “We won’t know how much water is up in the mountains, and whether there’s enough to last through the summer.”
The Birth of Snow Surveys
The snow survey program in the US originated near Lake Tahoe, the largest alpine lake in North America, around the turn of the 20th century. Lacking reliable ways to predict how much water would flow down the mountain each spring, lakefront homeowners and business owners, fearing floods, implored dam operators to release water early in the spring. Downstream communities and farmers, however, resisted, arguing that the dam should retain as much water as possible to prevent shortages later in the year.
In 1908, James Church, a classics professor at the University of Nevada, Reno, whose passion for hiking inspired his interest in snow science, invented a device that helped resolve the so-called Lake Tahoe Water Wars: the Mt. Rose snow sampler, named after the peak of a Sierra spur that juts into Nevada.
