snowpack

American  

[snoh-pak] / ˈsnoʊˌpæk /

noun

1. the accumulation of winter snowfall, especially in mountain or upland regions.

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snowpack British  

/ ˈsnəʊˌpæk /

noun

1. a quantity of fallen snow that has become massed together

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snowpack Scientific  

/ snō′păk′ /

1. An area of naturally formed, packed snow that usually melts during the warmer months.

2. The amount of snow that accumulates annually in a mountainous area.

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Etymology

Origin of snowpack

First recorded in 1945–50; snow + pack ¹

Example Sentences

Snowfall in the Gila River watershed was exceptionally scarce, leaving mountain snowpack at just 2 percent of the 1991-2020 March median.

From Science Daily • Jun. 18, 2026

That’s in sharp contrast to Northern California, which saw a record-breaking March heat wave melt mountain snowpack early.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 13, 2026

“There’s never been a winter like this, where we had virtually no precipitation, very little snow, very little rain. We count on that snowpack from the mountains,” he said.

From Slate • Jun. 1, 2026

The warm winter led to the worst year for snowpack in Colorado and Utah on record, meaning less water in the parched Colorado River.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 21, 2026

The trail here remained buried beneath a head-high winter snowpack in many places.

From "Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer