Dr. McKenzie Skiles

An incredible view of a dust storm charging south across Mexico.

Friends of Alta Speaker Series: Dust on snow- How darker snow and faster melt impacts water resources Get tickets on Humanitix - Friends of Alta Speaker Series: Dust on snow- How darker snow and faster melt impacts water resources. Salt Lake City Public Library- Conference Room B, 210 E 400 S, Salt La...

FYI!

#utwx #snow #greatsaltlake

events.humanitix.com/friends-of-a...

Just under 300 cm of snow (~9 ft) at Atwater Study Plot in Alta, UT yesterday, or 110 cm (3’7’’) of snow water equivalent.
❄️
Down from ~350 cm on the 19th (last storm) w/ lots of energy inputs this week.

#utwx #snow #alta

‘Scientists will not be silenced’: thousands protest Trump research cuts Researchers at Stand Up for Science rallies voice defiance against the policies of US President Donald Trump’s administration.

The mood was defiant at many of the rallies, where chants of “Scientists will not be silenced”, “Facts over fear” and “What do we want? Peer review! When do we want it? Now!” were heard.


https://go.nature.com/3F8T6FX

How has society been impacted by the federal actions against science?

Please take the time! Not just another survey - for a statement of harm for the lawsuit that AGU is a plaintiff in. They are looking for impacts to society (i.e. not personal impacts).

forms.monday.com/forms/f553b2...

AGU has joined a lawsuit challenging the firing of probationary employees at federal agencies.

These actions weaken science, harm public health & the environment, and threaten national security. 🧵 #StandWithScience

Funding freezes and deep cuts to research risk the next generation of U.S. scientists. Throttling public science funding will have long-term consequences for U.S science and will hurt our economic future.

Read AGU's statement here: news.agu.org/press-releas...

Congratulations to Otto Lang, the newest snow doctor, on the successful defense of his PhD dissertation this afternoon!
❄️ 🙌 🎉
I’m a proud advisor - for Otto and this whole amazing crew!!

The latest snowpit at Atwater Study Plot - Alta, UT.

Currently the site has 220 cm (~7 ft) of snow - and similar to the rest of the Wasatch it is just on the low side of near average.

#snow #utwx

The U.S. Weather Enterprise: A National Treasure at Risk The AMS is a global community committed to advancing weather, water, and climate science and service.

Statement: the American Meteorological Organization:
"Recent terminations within the government workforce for science are likely to cause irreparable harm & have far-reaching consequences for public safety, economic well-being, & the United States’ global leadership."
www.ametsoc.org/ams/about-am...

This is really important research for this region, where seasonal snowmelt provides water to Salt Lake City and Wasatch Front, agriculture, and annually recharges the shrinking Great Salt Lake.

#water #utwx #greatsaltlake #nsffunded

This paper dives into a lot of relevant details - including what we can & cannot measure about dust on snow impacts from MODIS/remote sensing - a dataset that can be useful to understand patterns but with important limitations.

Two Decades of Dust Radiative Forcing on Snow Cover Across the Great Salt Lake Basin Spatiotemporal patterns in dust on snow impacts were assessed over the MODIS record (2001–2023) in the Great Salt Lake Basin (GSLB) Dust deposition darkened snow every year, and the magnitude of ...

Dust is a relevant but variable contributor to snow darkening & snowmelt *every year* in the headwaters of the Great Salt Lake.
The latest Snow HydRO lab research, led by PhD student Otto Lang, fills a critical gap by quantifying spatial & temporal patterns of dust on snow.

doi.org/10.1029/2024...

National Science Foundation fires roughly 10% of its workforce NSF fired 168 employees, leaving the agency less equipped to fund a wide range of scientific research.

Yesterday was the darkest day of my professional life so far. Many of NSF’s best and brightest people fired indiscriminately. The terms of their firing cruel. My colleagues matter, they are valued and they make a difference. I have no words. www.npr.org/2025/02/18/n...

Monument outside of collections saying "Annie Montague Alexander. She found men a nuisance on her arduous field trips"

I got to visit CU Boulder today for collections visits.

I definitely needed to clear off this Monument and get a picture of it. 🧪

Snow Measurement Field School day 3 included a tour of the CUES snow study plot and hands on experience with specialty snow tools (field spectrometer, drone, SSA and LWC sensors).

On day 4 students designed their own mini field campaign; collecting, analyzing, and presenting their datasets.

Kicked off Snow Measurement Field School today in Mammoth Lakes, CA with the fundamental snow observations ❄️❄️❄️

23 students, five instructors, two TA’s & a whole lotta density cuts.

Celebrating Jessica Lundquist last night who received a most well deserved AGU Ambassador Award! 🥂✨ #agu24

Jessica has been a mentor and champion for me & so many others - the field of snow hydrology is lucky to have her!

Snow HydRO Lab at #AGU24 - honored to be advising this crew and proud of their snow hydrology presentations in DC this week!
From grad students to postdocs to alums - they are all advancing snow remote sensing and modeling research in exciting ways!

A new approach to net solar radiation in a spatially distributed snow energy balance model to improve snowmelt timing Snow that accumulates seasonally in mountain headwaters is traditionally a vast and consistent natural reservoir, providing water as the snow melts in…

Snow albedo (+net solar) is under measured & oversimplified in models - leading to errors in melt timing.
In this work led by Snow HydRO grad Joe Meyer, melt timing is improved w/ open-access spatially distributed solar (HRRR) + remotely sensed albedo (MODIS).

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Hi Bluesky - like snow, mountains, climate, and/or hydrology? I direct the Snow Hydrology Research-to-Operations Lab at the University of Utah, currently consisting of 4 graduate + 4 postdoctoral researchers. Follow along for updates from this amazing group!