❄️ Journalist and photographer covering the snowpack, climate change, and Western water | ✍️ Author of snow.news |💧Co-director of waterdesk.org, University of Colorado Boulder | 🏔️ Based in Durango
Mitch Tobin
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Can AI help forecast if a storm will deliver fluffy powder or dense, heavy snow?
My latest story for The Water Desk explains how scientists used hand-collected snowfall data to improve predictions of the snow-to-liquid ratio—a key driver of winter storm hazards.
waterdesk.org/2026/05/mach...
Late-season storms brought much-needed moisture to parts of the West, but they didn’t come close to erasing the deficit.
New at snow.news: an update on the snow drought — plus a remembrance of my dad, who helped inspire my love of journalism and weather.
www.snow.news/p/snow-droug...
Not to sound like a broken record, but this snow drought really has been record-breaking.
Two recent updates from scientists drive home just how abysmal the West’s 2025-2026 snow season has been, with the snowpack hitting new lows in some datasets.
www.snow.news/p/2026-snow-...
The latest monthly fire season outlook is up, and it's a doozy. Forecasts look similar a year ago, and the season ended up being below average in terms of acreage, so that's worth bearing in mind. But with the historic snow drought, this could be a big one.
www.nifc.gov/nicc-files/p...
Mitch Tobin
Plus, San Juan Mountains aerial photos reveal season's dwindling snowpack
Elephant Butte Reservoir could go as low as 2% capacity this summer. I reported from Santa Fe on the Rio Grande Compact Commission meeting as Colorado, New Mexico and Texas contend with less water after a dismal winter and warm spring.
@insideclimatenews.org insideclimatenews.org/news/2004202...
🔥🔥🔥 The Nov-Mar 2025-26 cool/cold season was anything but cold for most of the Contiguous U.S. It was easily the warmest on record (1895-96 to present) overall. Many individual states shattered their record warmest Nov-Mar.
Murphy Woodhouse
Scientists use machine learning and hand-collected data to better predict snowfall and storm impacts
