Mitch Tobin
Mitch Tobin is co-director of The Water Desk and a multimedia journalist based in southwest Colorado. A former newspaper reporter in Arizona and California, Mitch is the author of snow.news, a free newsletter about the science of snow and the state of the snowpack.
Tip sheet: monitoring the West’s snowpack
What’s the current state of the snowpack? How have conditions changed over the season?
Climate change and the snowpack: an annotated bibliography
How is climate change affecting the West’s snowpack? What are the projections for the future?
Numerous scientific reports and studies in recent years have tried to answer these questions and others.
Below is an annotated bibliography...
Post-fire study finds snowpack melts earlier
Loss of forest canopy and deposition of ash alter forest hydrology
How much runoff comes from the West’s snowpack?
Snowmelt dominates many Western rivers, but climate change will reduce that contribution as raindrops replace snowflakes.
Q&A: Defining the “snow deluge” and projecting its future
Scientist Adrienne Marshall explains why these extreme snow years are expected to decline in our warming world.
How this spring’s snowpack is stacking up
No joke: April 1 readings were decent across many parts of the West, but some areas are still stuck in a snow drought
10 visuals that show how climate change is transforming the West’s snow and water...
The latest National Climate Assessment warns of a shrinking snowpack and serious downstream consequences.
Reading list: great snow journalism
If you’re looking for a crash course on snow and the Western snowpack, check out this great reporting, writing, and visual storytelling.
Why atmospheric rivers can be both harmful and helpful
These "rivers in the sky" can cause catastrophic flooding but are also critical for the West's snowpack