That layer of clean, white snow across Western Washington’s lowlands and mountaintops sure was nice while it lasted.
But the abnormally warm winter temperatures that followed melted much of that precious winter snowpack away, the water it held now drifting out to sea. Hope of another snowy miracle in the mountains dwindles with each passing day as drought predictions for the summer ahead pick up almost where they left off last month.
This is supposed to be the time of year when snowpack sits at its highest point. April 1 is generally assumed to be the peak of the season, and yet most of Washington’s mountaintops sit at or below half their normal levels for this time of the year. Temperatures from October to February have marked the third warmest on record, and the likely continuation of that trend spells trouble for whatever little snowpack remains.
“Our window for improvement is just narrowing and narrowing,” Deputy State Climatologist Karin Bumbaco said.
With so little snow remaining in the mountains, Washington is all but certain to succumb to its fourth severe drought in a row. Each of the past three years forced state and local officials to curtail water supplies repeatedly, cutting so close to the bone that cities and farms alike have begun to worry for their future. Hydropower has also suffered, forcing electricity prices up. Not to mention the fish, animals and plants suffering through these dry years, which kill salmon and heighten wildfire risk.
Currently, Washington sits at a median snowpack of 54% of normal, Bumbaco said.
Some places, like the north Puget Sound or Lower Pend Oreille regions are faring a bit better at 71% and 59% of normal, respectively, according to data collected by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. But others are sitting much lower, like the south Puget Sound and upper Yakima River basin, which sit at 49% and 39%, respectively.
Snowpack in the Olympic Mountains, which saw some of the heaviest wildfires in the state last summer, currently sits at 41% of normal.
Melt all that snowpack down and measure the total amount of water left in inches over the same surface area and you’ve got what’s called the snow water equivalent.
In early March, Washington’s snow water equivalent sat at an average of 13.7 inches across the state, Bumbaco said. Winter storms pulled that statewide average up to 17.5 inches, but the following warm weather and rainfall chipped away at the short-lived snowpack. As of Monday, the statewide average sat at 15.5 inches, barely 13% ahead of where it was at the start of the month.
Relatively speaking, Washington fared better than most this winter. Oregon sits at just 19% its median snowpack, Bumbaco said. And snow in the Colorado River basin currently sits at its lowest level on record.
And the months ahead are likely to dip conditions lower on all fronts with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s seasonal outlook predicting higher-than-normal temperatures and below-normal precipitation between April and June.
That forecast means additional storms that might build up Washington’s snowpack are unlikely and also that the warm weather could melt down the remaining snowpack even lower, Bumbaco said.
Washington needs snowpack, rather than rain, in the winter because it effectively serves as a reservoir unto itself. As spring turns to summer, the snow melts and drains into our human-made reservoirs, stretching water supply well into the driest part of the year.
But as climate change forces temperatures to rise, more precipitation over the region falls as rain rather than snow. Reservoirs aren’t able to capture that water in those moments because they’re generally too full.
Not only do these warm, dry winters cut into Washington’s water supply for the summer, but as summer temperatures increase further, that means demand for water increases. So the state must contend with much lower water supply for an ever-increasing demand.
Until now, three severe droughts in a row had not been recorded in the state’s climate records, and we are likely about to enter our fourth.
© 2026 The Seattle Times. Visit www.seattletimes.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
