Dan McEvoy is a climatologist with the Western Regional Climate Center at DRI. In this interview, Dr. McEvoy answers frequently asked questions about how warmer temperatures are impacting water availability and wildfire risk in the West, and what he and other DRI scientists are doing to monitor these changes. This is the first in a new series of FAQ videos with DRI researchers.
An examination of Rocky Mountain snow finds higher contamination levels of mercury and others metals in the northern part of the range, consistent with increased current and historical mining in the region. The study, published in the May issue of the journal Environmental Pollution, examined contamination levels for Mercury, Zinc, Cadmium and Antimony from nearly 50 sites in the Rocky Mountains.
A new study published in Nature Communications utilizes insights gleaned from DRI’s Mountain Rain or Snow project to evaluate why traditional weather forecasting struggles to identify the rain/snow transition line. The research was possible because thousands of community members across the U.S. contributed more than 40 thousand observations of the type of precipitation falling at their location.
DRI contributes to research that predicts a major decline in California's snowpack by the end of the 21st century.
The snow-inducing technique called cloud-seeding has been around for more than 60 years. Although not a panacea for drought-stricken regions, cloud-seeding can increase seasonal precipitation by about 10%. In the Reno area alone, winter cloud-seeding efforts are estimated to add enough water to supply about 40,000 households for a year.
Rain-on-snow events are the focus of DRI’s Anne Heggli, who is studying ways to improve our ability to forecast and prepare for these potentially hazardous storms.
A DRI-led team examined what happens to mountain snowpacks when sunny, midwinter dry spells occur in forests impacted by severe wildfire.
DRI researchers examined the role of spring heatwaves on the snowmelt rates of mountain snowpacks across the West.
Murray, Nieminen, Collins, Christopher, and Lundin at DRI are studying snow algae as part of the Living Snow Project – a collaboration between DRI and Robin Kodner and her team at Western Washington University.
A new study provides the first framework for a snowpack decision support tool that could help water managers prepare for potential flooding during rain-on-snow events, using hourly data from existing snow monitoring stations.