March 2026 Snowpack and Drought Summary

Key Messages: 

On April 8, the WA Department of Ecology issued a statewide Drought Emergency  due to very low snowpack and summer water supply concerns.
As of April 1, our statewide snowpack is well below normal at just 53% of median. 

February 2026 Snowpack and Drought Summary

Key Messages: 

As of March 3, our statewide snowpack is well below normal at just 53% of the median. Many individual stations are below 10th percentile snowpack for this point in the season.  

January 2026 Snowpack and Drought Summary

Key Messages: 

As of February 2, statewide snowpack is well below normal near 55% of median. 

Water year precipitation remains above normal in most of the Cascades, but warm storms throughout the season and January’s dry spell both contributed to the current snowpack deficits.  

December 2025 Snowpack and Drought Summary

Key Messages: 

Precipitation for the current water year is well-above normal, but not enough to overcome multi-year deficits.   

Snowpack remains below normal in the central and southern Cascades, Olympics, Blue Mountains, and the northeastern WA Rockies.  

November 2025 Drought and Snowpack Update

Key Messages: 

Snowpack is currently below normal in all major basins across the state 

Storms were warm, bringing mostly rain instead of snow. Drier than normal conditions occurred across the Olympics and portions of the southwestern Cascades which limited snowpack growth. 

May 2025 Snowpack and Drought Summary

Considerable snowmelt continued through May as warm and dry conditions continued in the mountains. The difference in snowpack coverage can be seen clearly by comparing maps of May 1 and June 1 SWE, courtesy of the National Operational Hydrologic Remote Sensing Center (NOHRSC). 

April 2025 Snowpack and Drought Summary

Spring melt began in earnest this month. Snowpack has fallen further behind our typical 1991-2020 totals as of May 1, 2025, largely as a result of dry conditions, warmer than normal temperatures, and earlier than usual melt. 

March 2025 Snowpack and Drought Summary

March was an eventful month for snowpack due to a steady and large increase in snowpack in the middle of the month followed by significant melt-out due to the March 25-26th warm spell.