This story was shared with permission from KUNR Public Radio. For an audio version of the story, please visit the KUNR website. Above: Drone shot of Mt. Rose, where the SNOTEL site is located. Credit: Oscar Martinez.
The Natural Resources Conservation Service of Nevada, or NRCS, conducted a snow survey on Mar. 2 to assess the status of the region’s snowpack.
Jeff Anderson, an NRCS hydrologist, pushed a snow tube deep into the ground at the SNOTEL site on Mt. Rose. He did this as a way to confirm the accuracy of the data sent by snow telemetry equipment.
What’s collected helps measure not only the snowpack, but also provides water-supply forecasts, annual precipitation, air temperature, snow depth and soil moisture.
Anderson explained how the SNOTEL site uses a snow pillow to collect data.
“A snow pillow is a fluid-filled bladder that sits on the ground. It’s right on the surface of the soil, and it acts as a scale to weigh the snowpack,” Anderson said.
He uses snow tubes for on-site measurements and to confirm the accuracy of SNOWTEL’s data.
The data revealed that the Sierra Nevada region has a below-average snowpack. Anderson said this means a longer snow-free season, resulting in less water for farmers during the summer. The tube is first placed on a scale with snow, then without snow, to determine the snow’s weight. The chance of recovery in March is unlikely, especially after recent snowstorms followed by rain in the region, Anderson said.“That was disappointing to have such a tremendous boost to our snowpack and then have some of it erode away,” Anderson said.
Data from across the Mountain West tells a different story.
“The best snowpacks are really up in Wyoming, and in Montana and parts of Idaho. That’s an area that’s had better snow accumulation this winter, but, yeah, a lot of the rest of the West is not doing so well,” Anderson said.
Nick White, senior groundwater hydrologist for the Truckee Meadows Water Authority, said they won’t have to change their planning strategies.
“Believe it or not, we’re actually in great shape as we approach the warmer spring and summer months,” White said.
The next snow survey will be done in April.
Oscar Martinez and Malory Shaw are students in the Reynolds School of Journalism. Malory Shaw is the 2026 spring intern for KUNR and the Hitchcock Project for Visualizing Science.
