‘Snow-eater’ heat waves are increasing in frequency, study finds

“Snow-eater” heat waves, a new term scientists are using to describe spring heat waves hot enough to nearly double the speed at which snowpacks melt, are happening earlier and more often throughout the year, Kaleb Roedel writes for Tahoe Daily Tribune. The area impacted is also expanding: the snow-eater’s territory has grown by 102,000 square kilometers per century since 1850.

The study defined a snow-eater as a period of three or more days with a temperature of at least six degrees Celsius above normal without dipping below freezing overnight. During the American West’s snowmelt, which lasts from March through July, snow typically melts at a rate of nine millimeters of water per day. In a snow-eater, the rate rises to 17 millimeters of water per day. 

As reservoirs are built to handle a gradual snowmelt, snow-eaters can quickly prove overwhelming to city infrastructure: in 1983, a Memorial Day heat wave that experts are now pointing to as an example of a snow-eater flooded Utah’s Wasatch Front and prompted Salt Lake City to create emergency canals.

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