This pioneering study tells us how snow disappears into thin air

By Alex Hager, KUNC Colorado

UW graduate student Danny Hogan squints into a small handheld microscope placed over a small blue board with snow on it held in his hand. — Danny Hogan, University of Washington graduate student and Sublimation of Snow (SOS) Project researcher, studies snowflakes on March 15, 2023. Photo: Alex Hager/KUNC

A new study published by the Sublimation of Snow (SOS) Project reveals, for the first time, that most snow is lost to the atmosphere in the spring. Knowing the amount and timing of snow sublimation could help water managers across the West make better decisions about how much water they take from rivers and reservoirs.

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