Experts warn western snowpack crisis signals a new climate reality for mountain towns

Mountain communities across the western United States are confronting an unprecedented winter marked by record-low snowpack, record-high temperatures, and growing economic uncertainty.

These challenges took center stage during a recent webinar hosted by Mountain Towns 2030, where leading climate scientists and tourism experts warned that this “missing winter” is not an anomaly but a preview of a new climate reality.

Titled “Winter 2025/26, A Climate-Fueled Season,” the conversation brought together researchers and practitioners to explain the science behind this winter’s conditions and what it means for the future of mountain towns, ski economies, water resources, and wildfire risk.

“This is absolutely linked to climate change,” said Daniel Swain, climate scientist at the University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources. “Unfortunately, we are going to see more winters like this — warmer winters and even less snow-friendly than this year.”

View the recording of the webinar here

Across the Rockies and Intermountain West, conditions typically associated with peak winter never arrived. From Boulder to Park City, communities have experienced unusually warm temperatures, diminished snowfall, and widespread concern about the long-term viability of snow-dependent economies.

Swain and Shel Winkley, meteorologist at Climate Central, outlined the drivers behind the extreme conditions:

• Record warmth across the West: November and December 2025 were the warmest on record for every Western state, pushing snow water equivalent levels to historic lows — even in high-elevation basins like Colorado.
  
• Rain instead of snow: While some regions, including California, saw substantial precipitation, much of it fell as rain due to unusually warm Pacific air masses.
  
• Persistent high-pressure ridges: A stubborn ridge over the Intermountain West diverted storms and trapped heat, a pattern increasingly influenced by distant oceanic conditions in the western Pacific.
  
• Clear climate change attribution: While natural variability still plays a role, human-driven climate
  change is making winters like this more frequent and more extreme.

“This is not just a bad winter,” Swain said. “This is a taste of what’s to come. We will still get good snow years, but they will be fewer and farther between.”

While snow may still arrive in late winter, its unpredictability is now the norm, leading to a shrinking winter season.

“Especially when we get to the Rockies and west, the fastest warming seasons that are occurring are happening in the summer, yes, but specifically in the spring and the fall. A lot of that is because we’re seeing the warmer temperatures arrive earlier, eating away at the end of our winters, and the cold temperatures arriving later, so those warmer temperatures are lasting into the beginning of winter as well,” said Winkley.

Park City response

Morgan Mingle, director of sustainable tourism for Park City, shared real-time impacts and lessons from the season:

• Economic disruption: While recent holiday retail activity remained relatively stable, ski-dependent businesses, such as gear rentals, experienced noticeable declines.
  
• Rapid adaptation: Park City launched quick-response task forces, developed visitor materials highlighting non-snow activities, and leaned into arts, dining, and indoor attractions.
  
• The need for diversification: “We can’t rely quite so heavily on the snowpack alone,” Mingle said. “This season made the impacts of climate change more tangible. It’s become a springboard to think more seriously about climate adaptation.”

Speakers emphasized that mountain towns are not powerless, and that proactive leadership matters:

• Data-driven planning: Invest in heat mapping, snowpack modeling, and high-elevation climate monitoring.
  
• Economic diversification: Expand arts, wellness, night-sky tourism, and shoulder-season experiences.
  
• Systemic solutions: Support clean energy, local electrification, and regional climate policy.
  
• Clear communication: Help visitors understand the link between declining snow and climate change. “Conversation is climate action,” Winkley noted. “If visitors ask about the snow, don’t be afraid to connect the dots.

“Climate change is no longer a future risk, it’s our present reality,” said Chris Steinkamp, executive director of Mountain Towns 2030. “Now is the moment to respond with ambition and systemic solutions that match the scale of what we’re experiencing.”