As this year's dry summer draws to a close we are all looking forward to a winter season filled with precipitation that is neither extreme nor destructive. A study by Eurac Research recently published in Scientific Reports, paints a discouraging picture of recent decades. Between 1982 and 2020, the period of snow cover in mountain areas around the world decreased by an average of about 15 days. The Alps are in line with the average where the reduction in snow cover sits between 10 and 20 days. The study strengthens the results of earlier research by extending the observation period and has also helped to make a NASA model more accurate.