Trends in snowfall versus rainfall in the western United States

The paper shows that rainfall has become more common at the expense of snowfall at western cooperative-weather stations since the 1950s, in response to the warming trends during the same period. Taken together with previous studies showing that snowpacks have been melting earlier and snowfed rivers flowing earlier, this "chapter" helps to provide an even more complete picture of the developing effects of warming trends on western rivers. Notably, the study built upon methods from a study in New England that found similar rain-v-snow trends there.