Ryan Webb

Deadline: THIS FRIDAY! Flash Freeze is happening again! This is a great opportunity for students to receive funding to pursue their own ideas.
Competition presentations will take place on Thursday, December 18th.
More info. here: connect.agu.org/cryosphere/a...

Flash Freeze is happening again! This is a great opportunity for students to receive funding to pursue their own ideas. Apply by October 31st.
If you're not a student, come support them and see their great presentations on Thursday December 18th.
More info. here: connect.agu.org/cryosphere/a...

Fieldwork Friday! Let's see those pictures of your field sites where you all are doing such awesome work.

One of our snowmelt monitoring stations in the headwaters of the Navajo River. This one of the main watersheds that supplies water (~96,000 acre ft) that is transferred from the Colorado River Basin into the Rio Grande River Basin. A very important resource for NM and a great place to work.

🤩New paper from our team member @cchartierrescan.bsky.social entitled 'Snow drought propagation and its impacts on streamflow drought in the Alps' published on Environmental Research Letters! Big congrats! Check out more details here: iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1...

#ClimateChange #Hydrology

Investigating the Impact of Optical Snow Cover Data on L-Band InSAR Snow Water Equivalent Retrievals | Journal of Remote Sensing No single remote sensing technique can accurately measure snow water equivalent (SWE) from space for mountain hydrology applications. To address this challenge in SWE monitoring, we evaluated a multis...

❄️ New remote sensing paper combines optical and radar data to improve measurements of snow water equivalent (SWE) from space for mountain hydrology applications like water forecasts. Led by Jack Tarricone (NASA), co-authors include Ross Palomaki & Karl Rittger doi.org/10.34133/rem...

Snow monitoring at strategic locations improves water supply forecasting more than basin-wide mapping Communications Earth & Environment - Adding snowpack measurements at strategic locations outperforms spatially complete surveys for water supply prediction, outlining a cost-effective strategy...

My latest research on snow monitoring and water supply forecasting has just been published with @springernature.com in Communications Earth & Environment (@commsearth.nature.com). We found greater improvements from measuring snow in the "right places" rather than everywhere. Read here: rdcu.be/eASXF

Apply for 2026 Snow Measurement Field School, opening late Aug! Snow School, taking place in Granby, CO, Jan 5–9, is a hands-on field workshop. Participants gain fundamental training in snow measurement techniques, to build the skills needed for high-quality fieldwork. www.cuahsi.org/workshops/sn...

Hotels sure do fill up fast for AGU. I'm glad I was able to get in there pretty quickly this morning.

Water district drops plan to build largest new Bay Area reservoir since 1998 amid cost overruns, delays Santa Clara Valley Water District halts work on $3.2 billion Pacheco Reservoir after already spending $100 million

Once again, the reality is that new reservoirs are far, far more expensive than water conservation, recycling, expanding groundwater recharge, and improving efficiency.

www.mercurynews.com/2025/08/26/p...

Solar panels lead to better...wool? Sheep and solar panels, our favorite foods at risk, and how to find climate-friendly rebates

From sheep growing better wool under solar panels to matcha prices soaring with the heat: here’s this week’s surprising mix of climate news, and something you can do about it today!

Fall semester kickoff BBQ was a success. We are welcoming 3 new members to the UWyo Mountain Hydrology team.
(From L to R: Maggie Morgan, Roz Slichko, Drew Kellogg, me: Ryan Webb, Preetika Kaur, Francesco Pelligrini, and Teagan Kleman)

Well, it happened. I was asked to review a paper that I am a co-author on. Granted, they spelled my name wrong so there is that.

“The professors are the enemy”: J.D. Vance on higher education [W]e have to honestly and aggressively attack the universities in this country. -JD Vance Greetings from a somewhat less infernal Virginia July day.  A storm front broke through our heat last night…

Yes, in 2021 JD Vance literally said
"[W]e have to honestly and aggressively attack the universities in this country... The professors are the enemy."
And no, he wasn't joking. The video is chilling.

bryanalexander.org/politics/the...

Not yet! Hopefully I won't.

2 Graduate Student Positions in Mountain Hydrology focused on Snowmelt - University of Wyoming - Laramie, Wyoming job with University of Wyoming Department of Civil Engineering | 8024935 The Mountain Hydrology Research group at the University of Wyoming is hiring 1 Ph.D. student and 1 M.S. to start in Fall of 2025 for an NSF funded ...

Join our group! 2 more grad student positions in snow science. 1 MS and 1 PhD. Check out the details here:
findajob.agu.org/job/8024935/...

I received word that my NSF CAREER proposal is being recommended for funding. Very exciting. This means more grad student opportunities! Check back or come see me at AGU for student opportunities in snow research.

PhD Assistantship in Hydrology - University of Wyoming - Laramie, Wyoming job with University of Wyoming Department of Civil Engineering | 8024869 The Mountain Hydrology Research group & Irrigation Science & Management Center at the University of Wyoming are looking for a Ph.D. student to star...

We are hiring a PhD student to start in May for a really cool project. This project focuses on improving snow hydrology for valuable streamflow forecasting. The position includes summer work with stakeholders that will increase student pay. More info. at: findajob.agu.org/job/8024869/...

A great time of year for field work. Here's what the snow conditions looked like around the Sugarloaf field site in the Snowy Range last Friday.

Check out our new paper defining marginal snowpacks and future needs. It was great working with everyone on this. Let us know what you think!
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Very cool.

Monday morning fieldwork is a great way to start the week. I'm establishing a new regular pit and depth transect near in the Snowy Range near the Sugarload rec area.

Proud Dad moment. My son is the only kid in preschool that made his snowflakes six pointed. Granted, some were only 4 but I'm gonna let it slide.

it's wild that R, the ubiquitous statistical computing language, was co-created by a Māori prof (Ross Ihaka) — and yet the vast majority of scientists who use R don't know

this is like inventing the toaster. possibly the largest impact of a single member of an indigenous community on modern science

I did not know. Actually, now that I think about it I don't know who invented MOST of the tools I use in my science regularly. Thanks for bringing this to my attention.

Mapping changes in temperature: every year from 1850 to 2023

2023 was the warmest year on record.

This 'small multiples' representation of observed changes in temperature show how the planet is heating rapidly almost everywhere.

Stop thinking of people as networks and try to build some genuine connections and friendships. That’s the best type of ‘networking’ you can do

I also recently found this book and used some of the resources foe my Advanced Hydro. class last year.

Talking about it with a trusted friend or colleague, and making a list of accomplishments. There are also some great webinar panels that are out there. Couldn't keep it to just one tip.

Conceptual diagram illustrating key microphysical process controls on orographic precipitation as a parcel moves across a mountain barrier. The lifting condensation level (LCL), temperature (T), relative humidity (RH), hydrometeor velocity (V), and advection distance (D) are depicted. Secondary controls on slope scale snow deposition/redeposition are also shown. Gray contours show hypothetical wind streamlines.

Will examines how microphsyics scheme choice in WRF influences simulated snowpack in mountain watersheds. Why microphysics? Because assumptions about cloud particle initiation, growth, aggregation, etc. ultimately influence fall speed, which is related to precipitation. 2/5