Near-zero snow hits Los Alamos mountains, raising drought concerns

Snow vanished on the mountains west of Los Alamos this winter, and the loss was visible at Pajarito Mountain, where the ski hill never opened at all. For residents, that meant more than a missed recreation season. It pointed to drier forests, higher wildfire risk and a water outlook that is getting harder to ignore in Los Alamos County.

Pajarito Mountain Ski Area told skiers early in the season that opening day for winter 2025 was postponed until further notice. The mountain said it usually needs several consecutive days of cold weather and significant natural snowfall before it can open. A winter recap posted April 18, 2025 showed the resort did operate during Winter 2024-25, making the contrast with this year’s near-zero snowpack even sharper.

The broader snow picture across New Mexico was just as stark. The Natural Resources Conservation Service reported that on March 31, 2026, “No Snow” conditions were observed in all but the three northernmost basins in the state. In the Rio Chama-Upper Rio Grande basin, snow water equivalent stood at 7% of normal at the end of March, a level that leaves little cushion for spring runoff in a basin that normally depends on mountain snow to refill streams and reservoirs.

Federal drought tracking said the state’s ongoing snow drought is adding to water-supply concerns along the San Juan River and the Rio Grande. It also said Rio Grande system reservoir storage at the end of December 2025 was the fourth lowest in 45 years. Arizona and New Mexico experienced their warmest winter, measured from December through February, on record, a combination that can speed evaporation, reduce snow accumulation and weaken the spring melt that usually sustains river flows.

The pressure is feeding back into local planning at Pajarito itself. A project description for the mountain says a pipeline from Los Alamos is intended to deliver water to a 250,000-gallon tank for snowmaking, a sign that the ski area is trying to build more reliability into a climate that is becoming less predictable. Pajarito describes itself as a ski area in Los Alamos that offers skiing, snowboarding and mountain biking, but this winter showed how quickly one season can tip from recreation into a warning for the county’s forests, water system and outdoor economy.