The Mount Shasta Avalanche Center reported that for most areas, “avalanche danger is non-existent due to lack of snow cover.” The only skiing available was for those able and willing to trek up to the glaciers. As of January 16, ski lifts were mostly closed and slopes were covered by just a two to three inches (five to eight centimeters) of snow. In addition to storing water (snow) for the region, Mount Shasta is also a popular destination for skiers-but not this winter. Cover is down to or possibly below the ‘permanent’ snow line.” By January 1, the area is normally about 15 to 30 percent of the April 1 average. “The Shasta snow cover reflects two dry winters (in 20), plus a December 2013 snowfall that puts the area less than 5 percent of the way toward the April 1 average,” said Roger Bales, a hydrologist at the University of California–Merced.“April 1 is roughly the time of peak accumulation for the area.

(Turn on the image comparison tool to see the difference.) Much of the surrounding landscape looks unchanged between the two scenes, except for longer shadows in January due to the lower angle of the Sun. The southern, eastern, and western slopes of the volcanic mountain have far less snow cover in January than November. The Operational Land Imager (OLI) on the Landsat 8 satellite captured these views of California’s Mount Shasta on January 4, 2014, and November 1, 2013. In 2014, nature has been slow to replenish the snowy water supply in many places. With a Mediterranean to arid climate across much of the region, snowpack from the mountains is a crucial source of water for most of the year. As moist Pacific air blows inland and rides up the western slopes of the Cascades, Sierra Nevadas, and Rockies, it drops the snow that fills the natural water towers of the West. In California and much of the western United States, winter is when the landscape usually stocks up its water supply.

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