Scientists are finding that snow in some parts of the Sierra Nevada is melting faster than ever – and warmer temperatures are not the cause.
In a study by the Desert Research Institute in Reno, scientists analyzed satellite data from past seasons, most recently 2021-2022 when the Caldor Fire burned near South Lake Tahoe. They found that during mid-winter dry spells, burn scar areas in the Sierra had significantly high snowmelt.
“During these dry periods in the middle of winter, we found that you could lose through melt close to half of that snowpack, if not even more in some of the lower elevation places,” Benjamin Hatchett with the