Articles | Volume 11, issue 1
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-11-331-2017
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-11-331-2017
Research article
 | 
01 Feb 2017
Research article |  | 01 Feb 2017

Future snow? A spatial-probabilistic assessment of the extraordinarily low snowpacks of 2014 and 2015 in the Oregon Cascades

Eric A. Sproles, Travis R. Roth, and Anne W. Nolin

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Cited articles

Abatzoglou, J. T., Rupp, D. E., and Mote, P. W.: Seasonal climate variability and change in the Pacific Northwest of the United States, J. Climate, 27, 2125–2142, 2014.
Adam, J. C., Hamlet, A. F., and Lettenmaier, D. P.: Implications of global climate change for snowmelt hydrology in the twenty-first century, Hydrol. Process., 23, 962–972, https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.7201, 2009.
Associated Press: Drought has city near Eugene imposing water restrictions, The Washington Times, available at: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/jul/29/drought, last access: 15 September 2016, 29 July 2015.
Barnett, T. P., Adam, J. C., and Lettenmaier, D. P.: Potential impacts of a warming climate on water availability in snow-dominated regions, Nature, 438, 303–309, https://doi.org/10.1038/nature04141, 2005.
Brooks, J. R., Wigington, P. J., Phillips, D. L., Comeleo, R., and Coulombe, R.: Willamette River Basin surface water isoscape (δ18O and δ2H): temporal changes of source water within the river, Ecosphere, 3, 39, https://doi.org/10.1890/ES11-00338.1, 2012.
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Short summary
We present an innovative approach to quantify basin-wide snowpack using calculations of spatial exceedance probability. Our method quantifies how the extraordinarily low snowpacks of 2014 and 2015 in the Pacific Northwest of the United States compare to snowpacks in warmer conditions and the probability that similar snowpacks will occur. We present these extraordinarily low snowpacks as snow analogs to develop anticipatory capacity for natural resource management under warmer conditions.