A Winter Without Winter

The Southwestern megadrought, as it’s called, has been going on since 2000, and is the worst dry period experienced in the area since 800 CE… 1200 years! Scientists do not believe there will be any respite in the near future… not by 2050 and, perhaps not even by 2100. That’s a sobering thought.

The calendar indicated it was winter, but it was hard to believe. Winter certainly didn’t feel like winter this year. The Las Vegas Journal recently reported, “Las Vegas has just experienced its warmest meteorological winter (December-February) on record, according to the National Weather Service, with a mean temperature of 55.1°F.”

The 2025-2026 season broke all previous records. It was an exceptionally warm December, the warmest on record at an average of 54.8°F. February was the second-warmest February on record, with an average temperature of 58.9°F. The previous winter record was set in 2015 with an average temperature of 54.6°F. That’s a significant increase.

There has been no winter in Las Vegas to speak of, and it’s a bit disconcerting. While my sister in Rhode Island is all bundled up, shoveling out from nearly three feet of record snowfall, we’re in t-shirts sitting out on the deck sipping wine.

Lin and Mark in Rhode island were digging out from 32” of snow while we were enjoying 80F+ temps on our back deck.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not longing for snow or sub-freezing temperatures in the desert, though we’ve seen it before. David declared long ago that he had no interest in living in any place that sells snowblowers or snow shovels. It’s nice to visit snow country, but we don’t want to live there.

That said, our annual plants didn’t get the memo that they’re annuals. They’re still blooming. We picked cherry tomatoes and peas till the middle of January. This is not normal and portends a blistering, dry summer ahead.

Other parts of the West have also been abnormally warm. Our son, Brad, in Florissant, Colorado, has seen very little snowfall this year and far fewer sub-freezing days than normal. He’s concerned that the pine bark beetles will be overly zealous this year and wipe out more trees. Additionally, it’s so dry that the threat of devastating wildfires is on everyone’s mind. The fires seem inevitable.

With little winter snowpack, Lake Mead, the U.S.’s largest reservoir, will continue to experience even lower water levels, which rise and fall based on the spring snowmelt in the Rockies to replenish our shared water source. Hydrologists do not expect a large snowmelt this year due to a lack of significant snowfall. The recent snow in the Rockies has helped, but according to NOAA, “those precipitation events won’t bring snowpack levels close to normal levels.”

Took this pic less than a week ago. Lake Mead water levels are already low. What will a scorching summer do to it?

We’ve enjoyed the mild winter, but I fear we’ll be paying the piper come this summer… and for many summers to come.