Snowpack status check: How are Washington's mountains after the cold snap?

An abysmal December stretch of warm weather added up to a lot of nothing in Washington's mountains, which went into 2024 lacking significant snowpack.

The region relies on that snowpack to store water until it is needed in the summer months. With many regions reporting below 50% normal snowpack, concerns were mounting.

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After the recent extreme cold weather, mountain conditions are looking up — and icy. Washington is up to about 73% of normal snowpack for this time of year. That's still lower than experts like to see.

“We started out quite low in terms of in our precipitation and had higher temperatures early on in winter, which leads to lower snowpack, and we already were starting out with a deficit in terms of last year, from last year’s drought," said Caroline Mellor, with the Washington State Department of Ecology.

Meanwhile, Oregon's snowpack is at about 105%. But Matt Warbritton with the U.S. Department of Agriculture told Northwest News Network that current levels could change for better or for worse.

“Just because we have near-normal snowpack right now doesn’t mean that will last,” he said, “especially if we have warmer temperatures.”

The current El Niño system has kept temperatures quite warm this season.

In Washington state, the Olympics, North Cascades, and areas east of Okanogan have concerning levels of snowpack. According to the Department of Agriculture, there are some regions across Washington, Oregon, and Idaho that are reporting more than 70% of regular precipitation (snow), and a handful of areas report more than 90%.

Mellor told Northwest News Network that, “People should continue to pray for snow. While things are starting to look better, we still need a significant amount of snow.”