Snow-eater heat waves of the western United States
- Alan M. Rhoades
- Joshua Snowball North
- William Rudisill
- Benjamin J. Hatchett
- Mark Risser
- Areidy Beltran-Peña
- Anne Heggli
- Scott Hotaling
- Laurie S. Huning
- Andrew Joros
- Matthew LaPlante
- Ankur Mahesh
- Adrienne M. Marshall
- Rachel McCrary
- Daniel McEvoy
- Stefan Rahimi
- Mark S. Raleigh
- Calen Randall
- Abhishekh Srivastava
- Michael Wehner
- Yang Zhou
- Andrew D. Jones
2026-08-05
Abrupt snowmelt, triggered by rain-on-snow events or “snow-eater heat waves,” can cause flooding, initiate or accelerate snow drought, and affect water availability. However, the characteristics (e.g., area, duration, and frequency), impacts, and trends of snow-eater heat waves have received little attention. To address this gap, we developed a method to identify snow-eater heat waves and estimate their melt potential using 20th Century Reanalysis version 3 air temperature data, the TempestExtremes algorithm, and an operational snowmelt model (SNOW-17) across 1850–2015. Melt season snow-eater heat waves typically last 3 to 5 days, with three to five events, doubling snowmelt rates. Seven of 11 spring superfloods are shown to coincide with snow-eater heat waves. Since the 1850s, snow-eater heat waves have increased in area and frequency, decreased in duration, and shifted earlier in the melt season. Incorporating snow-eater heat-wave impacts into SNOW-17 enhances extreme melt estimates, improving water management support tools.