2025/2026 Snow Water Equivalents

[just-jim]

.
Thanks David. I’d been following some of the various snotel sites….but had not seen a basin wide compilation.

We could have an interesting spring run-off….especially if we pick up much additional precipitation up high - until the melt starts.

[mister_coffee]

This pop-up shows this more clearly:

Screen Shot 2026-02-01 at 4.13.39 PM.png

[mister_coffee]

From https://drought.climate.umt.edu/

Screen Shot 2026-02-01 at 3.20.54 PM.png

The upshot is that the Methow Basin, of all places, is about 135 percent of "normal". That is because even though the low-elevation snow is pretty thin, there is actually a high-elevation snowpack that is quite a bit above normal. The break-even point seems to be about 4300 feet.

Similarly, the Upper Skagit, Similkameen, and Lake Chelan drainages are quite a bit above normal even though they are looking at the same snowpack distribution.

However, further south it gets ugly fast. The Wenatchee drainage is 85 percent of normal and the Skykomish drainage is 67 percent of normal. The further south you go the uglier it gets. And East of here it is just as ugly.