TY - JOUR
T1 - Snow-eater heat waves of the western United States
AU - Rhoades, Alan M.
AU - North, Joshua Snowball
AU - Rudisill, William
AU - Hatchett, Benjamin J.
AU - Risser, Mark
AU - Beltran-Peña, Areidy
AU - Heggli, Anne
AU - Hotaling, Scott
AU - Huning, Laurie S.
AU - Joros, Andrew
AU - LaPlante, Matthew
AU - Mahesh, Ankur
AU - Marshall, Adrienne M.
AU - McCrary, Rachel
AU - McEvoy, Daniel
AU - Rahimi, Stefan
AU - Raleigh, Mark S.
AU - Randall, Calen
AU - Srivastava, Abhishekh
AU - Wehner, Michael
AU - Zhou, Yang
AU - Jones, Andrew D.
PY - 2026/8/7
Y1 - 2026/8/7
N2 - 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.
AB - 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.
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105046598731
U2 - 10.1126/sciadv.aeb3361
DO - 10.1126/sciadv.aeb3361
M3 - Article
C2 - 42555720
AN - SCOPUS:105046598731
SN - 2375-2548
VL - 12
SP - eaeb3361
JO - Science advances
JF - Science advances
IS - 32
ER -