Lake Mead's water levels are at their second lowest on Thanksgiving since 2019, despite intense winter storms bringing an early dump of snow to the mountains that feed the troubled Colorado River Basin.
The lake, located in Nevada and Arizona, suffered amid a severe drought in 2022, when levels on Thanksgiving that year reached just 1,043 feet. Thanksgiving in 2022 was slightly earlier, on Nov. 24, and this time, levels in Lake Mead are 1,061 feet.
The lake is 3 feet lower than on Thanksgiving last year and more than 20 feet lower than it was on the holiday in 2019, which also fell on Nov. 28.
At the end of October, Lake Mead's water levels were the second lowest in a decade, eclipsed only by 2022.
Lake Mead's full pool level is 1,229 feet—168 feet above where levels are currently.
This sluggish recovery comes despite a promising early-season snowpack in the Rockies, which brought hope of a good season ahead for the Colorado River.
This crucial water source, which feeds Lake Powell and Lake Mead, supplies water to some 40 million people in the American Southwest and Mexico.
During this week, severe winter storms have hit states across the U.S., including many vital for feeding Lake Mead.
In Colorado, an Upper Basin state, heavy snow has led to road closures and avalanche warnings as holidaymakers attempted to travel to see loved ones this week.
But all is not lost for this water year, a 12-month period used by hydrologists, meteorologists and water resource managers to track precipitation, streamflow and other water-related data, which began on Oct. 1.
Much will hinge on snowfall and precipitation later in the season, through January and March.
"It really isn't until early January that we have a sense of where snowpack is going, and even then things can change," Eric Balken, executive director of the Glen Canyon Institute, previously told Newsweek. "You don't fully know what's going to happen with runoff or reservoirs until March. It's kind of like trying to predict the stock market. You know, there's all sorts of data out there that you can look at, and maybe you'll be right, but you probably won't be."
A lot may depend on how the La Niña weather system develops, as was forecast by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
La Niña can bring drier conditions than usual to the Southwest, which could reduce snow accumulation and runoff into the river system if it strengthens.
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