Seth Borenstein and Brittany Peterson, Associated Press
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Wednesday's study in the journal Nature finds a key threshold for the future of snowpacks in the Northern Hemisphere: 17.6 degrees. In places where the winter averages colder than that, often the snowpack survives because it's cold enough. But areas warmer than 17.6 degrees for a winter average, like the Upper Colorado River basin, tend to see their winter wonderland dreams melt.