Science Source

Climate change impact on the roles of temperature and precipitation in western U.S. snowpack variability

Evaluates climate change impact on the roles of temperature and precipitation in spring snowpack (S) variability across the western United States
States that there is historically a range of threshold elevations (1580–2181 m) across six mountainous regions, above which precipitation is the main driver of snowpack variability and below which temperature is the main driver
Finds that under a moderate end-of-century climate change scenario, these thresholds increase by 191 to 432 m
Results suggest increasing spatial and elevational vulnerability of western U.S. spring snowpack along with associated impacts to hydrologic and ecologic systems