Snow Today

Snow-covered area in May 2024 across the western United States was 56 percent above average (Table 1), at 156,000 square kilometers (60,000 square miles) of snow cover, ranking third highest in the 24-year satellite record. May snowfall brightened the snow cover in some areas while others darkened from lack of snowfall.

Snow-covered area was 203 percent of average for April, ranking second highest in the 24-year satellite record. Despite a snowy April, snow cover days were below average because of a widespread slow start to the snow season. States in the north reported below-average snow water equivalent, while the opposite was true for states in the south.

March started out dry in the western United States, but made significant gains in winter storms toward the end of the month, finishing tenth in snow-covered area over the 24-year-satellite record. Snow-covered area reached a maximum on January 17, 2024, spot on with the average over the data record.

Despite a record-breaking snowpack this winter, in May 2023 snow-covered area for the western United States was only 106 precent of average, ranking eighth in the 23-year-satellite record.

Snow-covered area for the western United States hit another record for April, the second month in a row since the satellite record began in 2001. With longer days, more sun, and increasing temperatures in the coming months, concerns arise for how quickly the snowpack may melt in California with potential for flood risks.

Extensive snow cover in the western United States continued in March 2023, surpassing the 2019 record high by 11 percent and doubling last year's average and the 23-year-satellite record average for snow-covered area for March.