High Country News

Another water-short year in the Southwest is taking its toll

Generous spring snow storms were a momentary, if welcome, distraction from the region's real weather story: drought.

by Cally Carswell, May 13, 2013
A new normal for snow

The dry 2000s means snow trackers have to adjust "normal" downward.

by Sarah Jane Keller, Feb 04, 2013
Low snowpack means a dry summer for the West

A map shows Western snowpacks as of April 1, 2012, and notes record-breaking heat and dry weather in the Southwest.

by Neil LaRubbio, Apr 29, 2012
Where there's fire, there's global warming

Climate scientist Anthony Westerling is working to illuminate the connection between rising global temperatures and the increasing ferocity of the West’s forest fires

by Matt Jenkins, Aug 07, 2006
Climate-change clues — in tropical glaciers

In Thin Ice: Unlocking the Secrets of Climate in the World’s Highest Mountain Ranges, mountain climber and physicist Mark Bowen follows researchers who are finding clues to climate change in high-altitude tropical glaciers

by John Krist, Jun 26, 2006
The wild, wild weather

Whatever the cause, the weather in the West this last year has been wild and wacky

by Stephanie Paige Ogburn, Jun 26, 2006
The gift of runoff in a wet season

After too many recent dry years, residents of the Rocky Mountains are relishing the music of running water.

by Allen Best, Jul 20, 2011
The West’s wacky weather

The West’s weather is full of surprises this spring, with snowstorms, windstorms, rain and wildfires all happening at the same time.

by Jonathan Thompson, May 12, 2008
Bear witness to climate change

To imagine what your corner of the West will be like in a warmer climate, consider how different plants and animals are at a lower elevation.

by Pepper Trail, Feb 03, 2010
What happened to winter?

An unusual winter sends ripples through the West's water and wildlife systems, and leaves scientists wondering whether global warming is the cause.

by Michelle Nijhuis, Apr 18, 2005