Reply to: Streamflow shifts with declining snowfall

Abstract

replying to: W. R. Berghuijs & K. Hale Nature https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-024-08523-5 (2025).

In their accompanying Comment, Berghuijs and Hale¹ argue that comparing streamflow timing between periods with high and low snowfall fractions is a misleading analogy for studying the effects of climate warming on streamflow timing trends². Their concerns are twofold: first, they assert that analysing streamflow timing trends directly is more appropriate than comparing streamflow timing between periods of varying snowfall fractions; and second, they suggest that our findings on changes in streamflow timing in response to changes in snowfall fraction are driven predominantly by variations in precipitation, rather than by rising temperatures. In this response, we address these concerns in detail and demonstrate why they are not valid.