{
    "id": 5671,
    "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/5671/",
    "page_type": "Visualization",
    "title": "Mapping Snow Drought in the Pacific Northwest",
    "description": "In December 2025 an atmospheric river passed over the Pacific Northwest which led to heavy rainstorms and flooding. This early season rainfall was then followed up by a record low snow pack. View visualizations mapping both the atmospheric river and snow cover for the 2025-2026 season and a comparison to a historical baseline.",
    "release_date": "2026-08-19T15:59:59-04:00",
    "update_date": "2026-08-20T10:33:09.615619-04:00",
    "main_image": {
        "id": 1205185,
        "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a005600/a005671/tqv_2025-12-10_1330_smoothed.png",
        "filename": "tqv_2025-12-10_1330_smoothed.png",
        "media_type": "Image",
        "alt_text": "",
        "width": 3840,
        "height": 1920,
        "pixels": 7372800
    },
    "main_video": null,
    "main_credits": {
        "Visualizations by": [
            {
                "name": "Zoey N. Armstrong",
                "employer": "Navteca, LLC."
            }
        ],
        "Written by": [
            {
                "name": "Emily DeMarco",
                "employer": null
            }
        ]
    },
    "progress": "Complete",
    "media_groups": [
        {
            "id": 380733,
            "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/5671/#media_group_380733",
            "widget": "Video player",
            "title": "Snow Drought and Atmospheric River",
            "caption": "Visualization of the atmopsheric river in December 2025, followed by VIIRS NDSI snow cover in early 2026 and a comparison to the median snow cover from 2000-2025",
            "description": "",
            "items": [
                {
                    "id": 523970,
                    "type": "media",
                    "extra_data": null,
                    "title": null,
                    "caption": "",
                    "instance": {
                        "id": 1205184,
                        "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a005600/a005671/SnowDrought4k_WithComparison_Update.mp4",
                        "filename": "SnowDrought4k_WithComparison_Update.mp4",
                        "media_type": "Movie",
                        "alt_text": "",
                        "width": 3840,
                        "height": 1920,
                        "pixels": 7372800
                    }
                }
            ],
            "extra_data": {}
        },
        {
            "id": 380742,
            "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/5671/#media_group_380742",
            "widget": "Basic text",
            "title": "",
            "caption": "",
            "description": "During the winter of 2025-26, unusual warmth meant a larger share of precipitation fell as rain instead of snow across much of the West, while below-normal precipitation deepened deficits in some areas. January, February, and March each had the lowest Western snow cover for that month in the NASA MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) satellite record since 2001.\r\n\r\nOn the Cowlitz, those conditions produced a season of extremes. In December 2025, a powerful atmospheric river brought a long, narrow band of Pacific moisture into the region, causing intense rainfall and flooding. Across the season, that rain-heavy pattern sent water downstream quickly instead of building mountain snowpack that would melt and release water steadily into summer. Snowpack remained at just 20% to 50% of normal levels.\r\n\r\nAs winter became spring, the rain tapered off, and on April 8, Washington state placed every watershed, including the Cowlitz, under a drought emergency.\r\n\r\nLearn more about this story and how the NASA mission is improving watershed management on the [NASA science page here](https://science.nasa.gov/centers-and-facilities/goddard/nasa-river-forecasts-snow-drought/).",
            "items": [],
            "extra_data": {}
        },
        {
            "id": 380741,
            "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/5671/#media_group_380741",
            "widget": "Image transition via slider",
            "title": "Compare snow cover in 2026 to historical median",
            "caption": "Slide to see how the snow pack over Washington state on April 10th,2026 compares to the historical median for April 10th",
            "description": "",
            "items": [
                {
                    "id": 523976,
                    "type": "media_group",
                    "extra_data": null,
                    "title": "2026 slider",
                    "caption": "",
                    "instance": {
                        "id": 1205189,
                        "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a005600/a005671/Slider_2026.png",
                        "filename": "Slider_2026.png",
                        "media_type": "Image",
                        "alt_text": "",
                        "width": 3840,
                        "height": 1920,
                        "pixels": 7372800
                    }
                },
                {
                    "id": 523977,
                    "type": "media_group",
                    "extra_data": null,
                    "title": "slider median",
                    "caption": "",
                    "instance": {
                        "id": 1205190,
                        "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a005600/a005671/Slider_Median.png",
                        "filename": "Slider_Median.png",
                        "media_type": "Image",
                        "alt_text": "",
                        "width": 3840,
                        "height": 1920,
                        "pixels": 7372800
                    }
                }
            ],
            "extra_data": {}
        },
        {
            "id": 380734,
            "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/5671/#media_group_380734",
            "widget": "Video player",
            "title": "Atmospheric River December 2025",
            "caption": "Visualization of the total precipitable moisture seen across the Pacific in December 2025",
            "description": "",
            "items": [
                {
                    "id": 523971,
                    "type": "media",
                    "extra_data": null,
                    "title": null,
                    "caption": "",
                    "instance": {
                        "id": 1205186,
                        "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a005600/a005671/WaterVapor.mp4",
                        "filename": "WaterVapor.mp4",
                        "media_type": "Movie",
                        "alt_text": "",
                        "width": 3840,
                        "height": 1920,
                        "pixels": 7372800
                    }
                }
            ],
            "extra_data": {}
        },
        {
            "id": 380736,
            "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/5671/#media_group_380736",
            "widget": "Video player",
            "title": "Snow Cover Over Washington State November 2025-May 2026",
            "caption": "Visualization showing the NDSI snow cover seen in Washington November 2025-May 2026",
            "description": "",
            "items": [
                {
                    "id": 523972,
                    "type": "media",
                    "extra_data": null,
                    "title": null,
                    "caption": "",
                    "instance": {
                        "id": 1205187,
                        "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a005600/a005671/VIIRS_Snow.mp4",
                        "filename": "VIIRS_Snow.mp4",
                        "media_type": "Movie",
                        "alt_text": "",
                        "width": 3840,
                        "height": 1920,
                        "pixels": 7372800
                    }
                }
            ],
            "extra_data": {}
        },
        {
            "id": 380737,
            "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/5671/#media_group_380737",
            "widget": "Video player",
            "title": "Rainfall Vs. Snowfall",
            "caption": "During the December 2025 atmospheric river event, most of the water vapor that arrived in the Pacific Northwest came down as rain. Rain is shown in blue, snow in purple.",
            "description": "",
            "items": [
                {
                    "id": 523973,
                    "type": "media",
                    "extra_data": null,
                    "title": null,
                    "caption": "",
                    "instance": {
                        "id": 1205191,
                        "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a005600/a005671/RainVsSnow_Composite.mp4",
                        "filename": "RainVsSnow_Composite.mp4",
                        "media_type": "Movie",
                        "alt_text": "",
                        "width": 3840,
                        "height": 1920,
                        "pixels": 7372800
                    }
                }
            ],
            "extra_data": {}
        },
        {
            "id": 380739,
            "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/5671/#media_group_380739",
            "widget": "Single image",
            "title": "2026 slider",
            "caption": "",
            "description": "",
            "items": [
                {
                    "id": 523974,
                    "type": "media",
                    "extra_data": null,
                    "title": null,
                    "caption": "",
                    "instance": {
                        "id": 1205189,
                        "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a005600/a005671/Slider_2026.png",
                        "filename": "Slider_2026.png",
                        "media_type": "Image",
                        "alt_text": "",
                        "width": 3840,
                        "height": 1920,
                        "pixels": 7372800
                    }
                }
            ],
            "extra_data": {}
        },
        {
            "id": 380740,
            "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/5671/#media_group_380740",
            "widget": "Single image",
            "title": "slider median",
            "caption": "",
            "description": "",
            "items": [
                {
                    "id": 523975,
                    "type": "media",
                    "extra_data": null,
                    "title": null,
                    "caption": "",
                    "instance": {
                        "id": 1205190,
                        "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a005600/a005671/Slider_Median.png",
                        "filename": "Slider_Median.png",
                        "media_type": "Image",
                        "alt_text": "",
                        "width": 3840,
                        "height": 1920,
                        "pixels": 7372800
                    }
                }
            ],
            "extra_data": {}
        }
    ],
    "studio": "svs",
    "funding_sources": [],
    "credits": [
        {
            "role": "Visualizer",
            "people": [
                {
                    "name": "Zoey N. Armstrong",
                    "employer": "Navteca, LLC."
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "role": "Science writer",
            "people": [
                {
                    "name": "Emily DeMarco",
                    "employer": null
                }
            ]
        }
    ],
    "missions": [],
    "series": [],
    "tapes": [],
    "papers": [],
    "datasets": [
        {
            "name": "",
            "common_name": "VIIRS",
            "platform": "Suomi NPP",
            "sensor": "VIIRS",
            "type": "Other",
            "organizations": [],
            "description": "",
            "credit": "",
            "url": "",
            "date_range": "January-April 2026"
        },
        {
            "name": "GEOS-FP",
            "common_name": "",
            "platform": null,
            "sensor": null,
            "type": "Model",
            "organizations": [
                "NASA GMAO"
            ],
            "description": "Documentation: Lucchesi, R., 2018: File Specification for GEOS FP. GMAO Office Note No. 4 (Version 1.2), 61 pp, available from [https://gmao.gsfc.nasa.gov/pubs/docs/Lucchesi1203.pdf](https://gmao.gsfc.nasa.gov/pubs/docs/Lucchesi1203.pdf)",
            "credit": "",
            "url": "https://fluid.nccs.nasa.gov/weather/",
            "date_range": "December 2025"
        }
    ],
    "nasa_science_categories": [
        "Earth"
    ],
    "keywords": [
        "Atmospheric Water Vapor",
        "GEOS",
        "Snow Cover",
        "VIIRS"
    ],
    "recommended_pages": [],
    "related": [],
    "sources": [],
    "products": [],
    "newer_versions": [],
    "older_versions": [],
    "alternate_versions": []
}