Record warm November leaves Cascades in ‘snow drought’ ahead of winter
Dec 16, 2025, 9:01 AM
A view of the Cascades in Washington with light snow. (Photo courtesy of KIRO 7)
(Photo courtesy of KIRO 7)
A “snow drought” is gripping the Cascades as winter approaches.
Despite a powerful atmospheric river pounding the region with nearly 5 trillion gallons of rain last week, and another atmospheric river this week, federal data shows that November was the region’s warmest on record, leaving the mountains drenched with rain instead of snow.
“Lot of the Cascades in Oregon were less than 20% of average snow pack and a little bit better in Washington, but still much below average,” Dan McEvoy, a researcher with the Western Regional Climate Center, told KIRO Newsradio.
Across the West, snow cover is the lowest for early December since satellite records began in 2001.
“Early season warm snow drought is occurring throughout Washington, where most SNOTEL stations are currently below 50% of median SWE, despite near-to-above median water year precipitation,” the National Integrated Drought Information System reported. “SWE is below median in the Upper Columbia (80% of median SWE), Yakima (50%), and Puget Sound (51%) Basins.”
Warm snow drought is less severe in north-central and northeastern Washington.
There’s still hope, though. McEvoy said a couple of cold, wet storms could quickly turn things around.
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