On Tuesday night, Weather Channel legend Jim Cantore provided an update on the snow drought plaguing the western region of the United States.
According to ABC News, scientists have determined that snow cover and snow depth in the West is the lowest it's been in decades. Cantore shared this concerning message about the recent drought: "Very bad." His comment was a direct response to an update from the National Weather Service Phoenix.
"The lack of snow cover is even more concerning across the Upper Colorado basin which feeds into Lake Powell & provides water to much of the Southwest," NWS Phoenix said. "Snow water equivalent over this massive basin is the lowest recorded (records since the mid 1980s) in the beginning of Feb."
Thankfully, a storm that has mountain snow potential is on the way.
"Starting this coming Sunday a series of very COLD systems enters the west coast with tons of mountain SNOW potential. In addition to being the '2nd winter season' for the Sierra, these will slide into the intermountain region and represent the best continuous snow chances this season thus far," Cantore said. "If there was ever a time for a western strike on the slopes its next week! This is a blessing on an abysmal ski season in that region."
As of now, Colorado's mountain snowpack is seriously behind schedule. Utah is also in dire need of heavy snow.
"Right now, the state needs an estimated 5 to 8 feet of high country snow just to break even. This is not snow in Denver or along the Front Range, but mountain snow at higher elevations, the kind that feeds reservoirs and rivers during spring runoff and sustains water supplies into early summer," CBS News reported. "Depending on snow density, reaching that threshold would require five to eight average mountain storms, in addition to the storms already expected in the near-term forecast."
Suffice to say, the U.S. will welcome this weekend's storm.