Conditions in context: snow cover
Snow-covered area for the 2021 water year continued to decrease rapidly in May (Figure 1, left). A storm in Montana in the third week of May interrupted the rapid melt temporarily before it resumed in the last week of May. Similar to April, snow-covered area in May has low year-to-year variability because snow remains mostly at higher, colder elevations. Still, snow cover was very low (Table 1). Below average snow-covered area in the western United States spanned large areas in California, southern Oregon, and Utah (Figure 1, right). Locations on the eastern edge of the Colorado and Wyoming Rocky Mountains had above average conditions. Idaho, Washington, and Montana had high regional variability over short distances, with a mix of above, near, and below average conditions. California, Oregon, and Utah fell below the previous 21-year minimum snow-covered area.
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