snowpack

[snoh-pak]

noun

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

snowpack

/ ˈsnəʊˌpæk /

noun

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

snowpack

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.

Word History and Origins

Origin of snowpack¹

First recorded in 1945–50; snow + pack ¹

Example Sentences

When the snowpack is gone by late summer, the glaciers that remain, often in the shadows of peaks, release meltwater that keeps streams flowing at the driest times of year.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

The Sierra Nevada’s snowpack is also seeing the effects of rising temperatures: Average snowlines are creeping higher in the mountains.

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After a series of dry years, heavy snowpack in the Rocky Mountains in 2023 brought some relief to the depleted reservoirs.

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A meager snowpack in the Rocky Mountains last winter added to the strains on the river.

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This year, however, the usual snowpack that binds rocks to steep slopes did not form.

Read more on BBC