![A map showing snowpacks as of February 9 across the American West. Click <a href="https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/wcc/home/snowClimateMonitoring/snowpack/snowpackMaps" target="_blank" link-data="{"cms.site.owner":{"_ref":"00000176-cd8c-dd4d-a7f6-fdbc82e80000","_type":"ae3387cc-b875-31b7-b82d-63fd8d758c20"},"cms.content.publishDate":1707517926961,"cms.content.publishUser":{"_ref":"00000187-521d-d16d-a9b7-f23dfd470000","_type":"6aa69ae1-35be-30dc-87e9-410da9e1cdcc"},"cms.content.updateDate":1707517926961,"cms.content.updateUser":{"_ref":"00000187-521d-d16d-a9b7-f23dfd470000","_type":"6aa69ae1-35be-30dc-87e9-410da9e1cdcc"},"cms.directory.paths":[],"anchorable.showAnchor":false,"link":{"attributes":[],"cms.directory.paths":[],"linkText":"here","target":"NEW","attachSourceUrl":false,"url":"https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/wcc/home/snowClimateMonitoring/snowpack/snowpackMaps","_id":"0000018d-8fff-dd37-a79f-ffffcb2b0001","_type":"ff658216-e70f-39d0-b660-bdfe57a5599a"},"_id":"0000018d-8fff-dd37-a79f-ffffcb2b0000","_type":"809caec9-30e2-3666-8b71-b32ddbffc288"}">here</a> text for more snowpack data.](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/c8f686e/2147483647/strip/true/crop/761x645+0+0/resize/840x712!/format/webp/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fnpr.brightspotcdn.com%2F77%2F84%2Ff42017fe46c9a50d3f4ea7f77ddd%2Fscreenshot-2024-02-09-at-3-29-28-pm.png)
Many people are aware that snowpacks - especially in the late spring - can be a key indicator for the sort of wildfire season that could be coming. Less well known is that wildfires themselves can impact snowpacks, as new research is showing. Past burns can speed melting by as much as 57 percent, and lead to snow packs disappearing up to three weeks faster.
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