Ski Patrol — How Snow Helps Tell Local Climate Story

A U.S. Forest Service map showing snow depth on Jan. 2, 2026. Image: U.S. Department of Agriculture screenshot.

TipSheet: Ski Patrol — How Snow Helps Tell Local Climate Story

By Joseph A. Davis

Whether or not your area had white holidays, people look to the media for news to find out if their ski trip will be a slushy bust … or their drive to grandma’s a nightmare. 

Enter environmental journalism.

Weather is always news — whether or not it’s climate change. But for your local ski areas, the presence (or lack) of snow may make a particularly gnarly tale.

 

Why it matters

The bigger picture of winter weather is worth remembering: Not everybody gets a vacation. Some people have to slog to work to make trips possible for those who do.

Those wintry conditions affect the lives of all kinds of people. 

Doctors who need to get to emergency rooms tend to own four-wheel drives, while plow operators can look forward to double shifts. 

Ice fishers need to haul out their sheds, and restaurant workers could lose their jobs if they don’t show for work. 

Farmers can lose their crops or livestock, and older people stuck at home if their heat goes out could die.

 

The backstory

You can go back 20,000 years to the last ice age, when the ice sheet covering Chicago was some 3,000 feet thick (which would cover today’s skyscrapers). New York City, too.

But modern-day winters can still be bad. 

In March 1993, for instance, the “Storm of the Century” buried much of the Eastern United States. And we know some babies who were conceived during the long wait for snowplows in early January 1996.

 

Climate change promotes more

intense storms during the

winter in some regions of the U.S.

More snow can be a paradoxical result.

 

And yes: There is a climate change angle. Climate change promotes more intense storms during the winter in some regions of the United States. More snow can be a paradoxical result. So the state of local skiing spots is a good place to start.

 

Story ideas

• Go to the nearest ski area (or maybe to the one you love) and hang around the ski shop (or the bar) to talk snow with staff and customers.
• Talk to snowmaking staff at ski areas, even if it’s the middle of the night. How are temperatures and precipitation affecting the snow conditions? What was it like a decade ago?
• Talk to ski patrol staff at ski areas (they are often the ones with the most experience). Ask about avalanche conditions.
• Ask people who own property at ski resort communities whether they go there when snow is lacking.
• Ask where the water used for snowmaking comes from. And where meltwater goes in spring. Ask about the implications for water quality and quantity of this water use.
• Also, talk to highway officials and snowplow operators about how they prepare for nightmare blizzards.

 

Reporting resources

• National Weather Service: Depending on your perspective, you may want to check in with your local NWS office for forecasts and alerts.
• National Snow and Ice Data Center: Not only does it have ski reports, but it also puts them in terms of global climate.
• National Integrated Drought Information System: A multi-agency government/academic data portal on drought conditions; check out its snow drought data and maps.
• California Snowpack Maps: Because snowpack predicts water supply, Californians check snow often. Good maps with the state’s Department of Water Resources and with the U.S. Forest Service’s Pacific Southwest regional maps.
• SkiCentral: A commercial service tracking ski snow reports for the United States, Canada and beyond.
• OnTheSnow: A fairly good listing of snow conditions at most major ski areas. The site is ultimately aimed at getting paying guests to ski resorts.
• American Automobile Association: AAA offers travel advisories, although only to members of this road-travel service.

[Editor’s Note: For more on winter weather-related reporting, check out our recent Toolbox on snow and ice data, and TipSheets on telling the climate story through ice fishing and backyard bird feeders, the risks of road salt and other snow and ice stories.]

Joseph A. Davis is a freelance writer/editor in Washington, D.C. who has been writing about the environment since 1976. He writes SEJournal Online's TipSheet, Reporter's Toolbox and Issue Backgrounder, and curates SEJ's weekday news headlines service EJToday and @EJTodayNews. Davis also directs SEJ's Freedom of Information Project and writes the WatchDog opinion column.

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* From the weekly news magazine SEJournal Online, Vol. 11, No. 1. Content from each new issue of SEJournal Online is available to the public via the SEJournal Online main page. Subscribe to the e-newsletter here. And see past issues of the SEJournal archived here.