The sun sets on another warm and bone-dry day in Salt Lake City, Utah. Snow is usually part of the scenery here in December, but not this year.

"It's been pretty dry. I fish throughout the state and a lot of my go-to spots, I get there and some locations are down anywhere from 5, 10, 15, 30 feet. Yeah it's kind of depressing."

This city's snowless streak has lasted more than 250 days, the fourth longest ever. 

"I can't remember a drier November in my life and I’ve been here 40 years."

It's the same story in places like Denver.

"The average first measurable snowfall of the season in Denver happens on October 18th. We're well past that point. There's no snow now and we're a week into December."

Some flurries did fall on November 24th. Some lawns got a dusting in the suburbs. But this city has been snowless for more than 230 days.

"I think it's extremely concerning."

Hydrologist Noah Molotch with the University of Colorado Boulder says he’s less worried about this season, moisture often varies greatly from year to year, than about longer-term climate trends which show continued warming and drying.


"We may see snowpack conditions that are persistently at or below 60 to 50% of what we have experienced in the past."

A new study published in Nature Reviews Earth and Environment predicts more frequent snowless years in the U.S. West if climate change isn’t addressed. Mountain snowpacks, not city snow, are the main concern. That's where the West gets much of its water supply. Those snowpacks, particularly at lower elevations, are well below average right now. 

"It’s not rocket science right, the climate's warming and we know snow is very sensitive to temperature."

Molotch, a snowboarder, worries about the ski industry and thinks this season could be a harbinger of the future.

"To me the big question is how does the winter recover from this current start."
"I'd like to say I’m optimistic but Im not."

Some relief is in sight for both Utah and Colorado.

"Snow's coming thank goodness."

But it'll arrive awfully late. The years when Santa Claus wears sandals, not snow boots, may soon be the norm, if current long-term trends aren't reversed. 

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