Welcome to snow.news
snow.news is a free newsletter for people who love snow and want to know what’s happening to the American West’s snowpack.
I’m Mitch Tobin, a science writer, multimedia journalist, and avid skier/snowboarder based in southwest Colorado.
Snow is my muse, my passion, my obsession, and my occasional nemesis.
I started this newsletter because I’ll never tire of learning about this captivating force of nature. Snow has delivered some of my life’s most joyous—and harrowing—moments, sometimes on the same day.
My goal is to share what I find as I dive into snow science, track the health of the snowpack, and report on how this precious resource is changing in the 21st-century climate.
Colorado and the mighty San Juan Mountains are my home base, but I cover snow across the West—and beyond. I share news, research, and insights from around the world. Did you know there’s snow on Mars?
Why subscribe to snow.news?
If you want to understand snow—why it forms, where it falls, whom it supports, how it’s studied, how it’s changing—this newsletter is for you.
Rather than breathlessly cover the blow-by-blow of every incoming storm, I focus on the bigger picture: seasonal trends, climate change impacts, and snow’s critical role in sustaining—and sometimes confounding—modern life.
When you subscribe to snow.news, you’ll get a free newsletter featuring:
· Original reporting on the latest snow science and the state of the snowpack
· Explanatory journalism that makes complex snow topics accessible and engaging
· Interviews with leading scientists and other snow experts
· Photos and videos capturing the beauty of snow and the joy of winter sports
· Data visualizations of the weather, climate, and snowpack
· Useful tools and resources for understanding and forecasting snow
· Field reports and personal stories from my exploration of the cryosphere
Multimedia journalism beyond doom and gloom
I co-direct The Water Desk, an independent journalism initiative at the University of Colorado Boulder’s Center for Environmental Journalism that focuses on Western water issues, especially the Colorado River and Rio Grande. For both of these beleaguered rivers, a thinning and less reliable snowpack lies at the crux of water challenges that threaten economies, ecosystems, and residents’ way of life.
As a journalist, I see myself as a translator. Snow science can be arcane and complex; my role is to make it understandable and interesting. I’m endlessly enchanted by snow, still full of questions, and eager to share what I discover.
Yes, the projections for our snowpack can be grim—and I don’t shy away from that. But I also venture far beyond doom and gloom. If I didn’t, I’d probably ski off a 1,000-foot cliff, ending both me and this newsletter.
This work is sustainable only if I’m having fun: exploring new places, expressing myself creatively, and connecting with fellow snow lovers.
My journalism career began in 1998 as a newspaper reporter. I wrote a book about endangered species in 2010, and my work has since expanded to include photography, video, and data visualization—all of which shape the multimedia storytelling in snow.news.
Questions? Suggestions?
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If you have story ideas, feedback, or tips, I’d love to hear from you: mitchtobin@gmail.com.
Thanks for reading,
Mitch
