MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
Dry January. It has a different meaning for snow lovers than it does for those taking a break from alcohol, and the meaning is not good. Many places across the West are reporting their lowest snowpack ever recorded at this point in a winter. NPR's Kirk Siegler reports that has everyone from the ski industry to farmers on edge.
KIRK SIEGLER, BYLINE: Where is our winter? - anxious Westerners are asking, as they watch it dump snow in places that hardly ever see a flake.
(SOUNDBITE OF SKIS CLICKING)
SIEGLER: On the continental divide in Colorado, John Isenbud (ph) is clicking into his ski bindings. A south-facing slope behind him is barren and brown, thanks to the relentless sun.
JOHN ISENBUD: I mean, we've known about global warming, you know, since the '80s.
SIEGLER: He's skied every winter since 1950 and has seen the changes from warming temperatures.
ISENBUD: Oh, it's the end of the world. Thank God that Trump has assured me there's no global warming, because you can trust him (laughter).
SIEGLER: This is a blue state where many work as federal climate scientists, and the renewable energy sector is also huge. The Trump administration is doubling down on fossil fuels and is moving to dismantle one of the biggest federal climate labs here.
(SOUNDBITE OF SKIS SHREDDING)
SIEGLER: Ski resort managers, meanwhile, are alarmed and worried about the dry winter. In Colorado alone, the industry is an estimated $5 billion economic engine. But if you're in the business, you're always trying to be optimistic. Rob Goodell is the COO here at Loveland Ski Area.
ROB GOODELL: So it has been a tough start to the season. I'd say there's no doubt about it. Our snow totals are some of the lowest we've seen in my memory.
SIEGLER: But Loveland is maybe better off than others. The base lodge here is at 11,000 feet, so it's been cold enough to keep making artificial snow.
GOODELL: And then, keeping the snow service in great shape. I mean, we're standing out here right now in the sunshine. And you can hear the skiers going, skiers and riders going by us. It's still very nice and soft.
SIEGLER: From family-owned Loveland to corporate giant Vail Resorts, business is way down, though. Vail reports a 20% drop in skier visits. It's the main industry tracker from Colorado to Utah to Washington state. The northwest and California have seen decent precipitation this winter, says University of California climate scientist Daniel Swain.
DANIEL SWAIN: But the problem in these regions as well is that it's been, often, record warm. And so that precipitation has been falling as rain rather than snow, even at quite high elevations.
SIEGLER: The snowpack is the West's main water supply. Tens of millions of people and countless farms rely on its storage and gradual melt into reservoirs. At the headwaters of the Colorado River, snowpack is at just 60% of average. And that average is based on the last couple decades of megadrought. Lindsay DeFrates is with the Colorado River Water District.
LINDSAY DEFRATES: We saw very little precipitation. The months of November and December were some of the driest on record. If you look at the charts of snowpack, we are drawing a new bottom line, the lowest that we have ever seen.
SIEGLER: Is this cause for alarm?
DEFRATES: It's cause for awareness.
SIEGLER: You may have seen some snow last weekend if you watched the AFC championship game or the X Games in Aspen. But it was only the second snowfall here since Christmas, and DeFrates says it didn't make a dent.
(SOUNDBITE OF SKIES SWIPING)
SIEGLER: Tommy Nagel (ph) owns a ski shop in Keystone, Colorado, and is trying to stay upbeat.
TOMMY NAGEL: A lot of people are wanting to learn to ski this year because it's warmer. So you're seeing a lot of people learning how to ski this year.
SIEGLER: He's also doing a brisk repair business. The bottom of skis are getting scraped up because it's so thin and rocky.
Kirk Siegler, NPR News, Denver.
(SOUNDBITE OF MORUF AND SZA SONG, "PT CRUISER") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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