UTAH — Trees in the West are remarkably flexible — they endure extended droughts, sweltering summers and subzero winters as part of a wildly variable climate. Even so, this year’s snow drought is going to leave a mark. Without a winter snowpack to convert into spring runoff, trees will shift into very low gear, growing little and leaving narrow bands in their tree-ring records. In really bad years there is no growth, and no ring, at all. Justin DeRose, dendrochronologist from the Department of Wildland Resources is buckling up this year for that possibility. 2026 will be a “tree-ring marker year” in Utah and likely the West, he believes. …The year’s snow total is spectacularly bad, he said… But he is paying close attention this year all the same, because very bad snow years seem to be cropping up more often than they did in the past.