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Researchers have developed a snow and rain tracker that gathers data from citizen scientists in an effort to improve the accuracy of storm warnings and water management.
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Cooke City is a small mountain town in the southwest corner of Montana that is known for being the snowiest town in the state and is also a gateway town to Yellowstone National Park. In the winter, there is only one driving road into the town from the west, because to the east is a nine mile stretch of highway that is not plowed. That nine miles has created a lot of controversy amongst locals.
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As winter approaches, the Wyoming Department of Transportation (WYDOT) is struggling to fill all of its snow plowing crews. Seven areas in the state have over 50 percent crew vacancy, and the Northwest region is the only area fully staffed.
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As a drought-stricken region looks ahead to the summer, climate scientists are keeping an eye on high-mountain snowpack and its path to streams and rivers. Snow at high altitudes makes up the majority of the water in the Colorado River – where this past winter has left low totals.
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Airborne Snow Observatories flies planes over watersheds and beams masses of laser pulses each second to the snowpack below to create elevation maps. The maps help calculate snow depth and the water supply forecast across the West.
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In the past two weeks, two avalanche deaths have occurred in Wyoming. Although this has been a less deadly avalanche season than last, avalanche experts say there is currently unstable snow.
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Events such as skijoring and snow biking have been cancelled this year, but other events are still slated to continue as normal. Despite the lack of snow, the different festivities have still proven quite popular.
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If you’re watching the Olympics, you’ve likely seen big brown mountains covered in veins of artificial snow trails. That more compact manufactured snow has pros and cons: racers like it’s consistency and how fast they go. But if you crash, you might get hurt worse. It will likely continue to be used, as researchers look for a way to scale up making fluffier, more natural snow for the future.
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Recent storms brought mountain snowpack above normal levels across much of the West, but the precipitation only slightly improves the region's long-term drought conditions.
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Many ski resorts in the state delayed their openings this year due to a lack of snow. Others had concerns about a lack of moisture. But in the past few weeks snowpack has caught up. In fact, the state's snowpack is better than it was at this time last year. Currently, the snowpack is at an 88 percent median while it was 80 percent the year before.