snowpack

noun snow·pack \ ˈsnō-ˌpak \

|Updated on: 11 Aug 2018

Definition of snowpack

: a seasonal accumulation of slow-melting packed snow

Recent Examples of snowpack from the Web

With snowpack this year down by a third, threatening drought, the Colorado suits also allege that oil companies are responsible in part for harm brought to the local agriculture sector and to the area’s ski industry.

— umair irfan, Vox, "Why Colorado thinks it has a chance to make oil companies pay for climate change," 5 July 2018
In the mountains, waterfalls will run flush into July as the snowpack eventually starts to melt.

— tom stienstra, San Francisco Chronicle, "Northern California’s 12 splashiest waterfalls," 17 May 2018
That has decreased the Rockies’ snowpack, a natural reservoir that feeds the Colorado River system’s summer streams.

— zack colman, Scientific American, "A Trump Oil Boom Could Transform This Rocky Mountain Landscape," 13 July 2018
As with backcountry skiers discussing the snowpack, bike safety is now something that’s talked about openly.

— marc peruzzi, Outside Online, "The Troubling Rise of the Ghost Bike," 9 July 2018
The goal is to make the oil majors liable for the greenhouse gases produced from their products and the local damages of climate change: rising average temperatures, melting snowpack, extreme weather like rainstorms and drought, and higher seas.

— umair irfan, Vox, "Why Colorado thinks it has a chance to make oil companies pay for climate change," 5 July 2018
Little snowpack, rising temperatures, and ongoing drought have led to steady declines in the river that serves 40 million people in seven US states.

— felicia fonseca, The Christian Science Monitor, "Arizona commits to producing drought plan for Colorado River," 29 June 2018
The forecast called for a high-pressure system to move through the area for at least three days, and the snowpack seemed stable.

— matt skenazy, Outside Online, "The Last Days of Marc-André Leclerc," 19 June 2018
Methane has been seen accumulating like snowpack on mountaintops on Pluto, likely during its long winter season.

— scott k. johnson, Ars Technica, "Frozen Pluto has wind-blown dunes made of methane sand," 31 May 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'snowpack.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.