Clinton Alden first became fascinated with snow, weather, and hydrology during summer backpacking trips in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. To that kid from San Diego, snow was a summer time phenomenon, found only in the high mountain peaks. He went on to earn a BS in Atmospheric Sciences from the University of Utah, where he helped teach several courses including 'Snow and Avalanche Dynamics' and 'Secrets of the Greatest Snow on Earth.' During his undergraduate studies, he interned and then worked for the Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes at UC San Diego. He worked with Dr. Minghua Zheng studying high-impact atmospheric rivers and on the Atmospheric Reconnaissance Field Campaign which focused on reducing uncertainty in atmospheric models to support water resource operations in California.

Clinton joined the Mountain Hydrology Research Group in 2023, initially working on a snow modeling project. For his MS thesis, he studied the sensitivity of melt-freeze crusts in snowpack to warming temperatures across the Greater Pacific Northwest. As a PhD student, he is currently working to improve cloud-snow discrimination with satellites with the long-term goal of better diagnosing cloud errors in atmospheric models.

Beyond academic research, Clinton co-founded Cascade Mountain Weather with fellow Mountain Hydrology member Danny Hogan, sharing weather forecasts and data to general public audiences. Passionate about science communication and education, he teaches avalanche awareness classes for the Northwest Avalanche Center and works as a freelance consultant bridging hydrometeorological expertise with real-world applications for companies and organizations. When not lost in innumerable tabs of SNOTEL and weather data, you can find Clinton in the mountains — climbing, biking, or backcountry skiing. Keep up with his latest projects and adventures on his personal site.