In winter, we often think of fun times: skiing, snowboarding, maybe some sledding as well, but as things warm up in the mountains, all that snow melts away, and that turns into a very important resource for California.
April 1 marks an important milestone for snowpacks and water supply forecasts as the date basin snowpacks typically reach a peak before melting. However, a wave of warm temperatures late March started the melt early, adding a caveat to April 1 measurements.
We are now midway through our typical water year when it comes to rain and Sierra snow.
The American Southwest recently experienced its driest period in 1,200 years. Storms in the winter of 2023 eased some of California’s extreme drought conditions, but officials stress that conservation should remain a way of life.
This page tracks hydrological conditions, precipitation, the Sierra snowpack and the largest reservoirs serving the state.
California’s major reservoirs are nearly full thanks to two wet winters, the Sierra snowpack is deeper than usual and the state is likely to receive even more rain and snow this spring.
The first measurable, widespread snow is expected in California’s Sierra Nevada Wednesday into Thursday, with a cold storm from the Gulf of Alaska poised to sweep the Golden State, according to the National Weather Service. There’s another chance for snow later in the week as well.
For more than a week there’s been a beautiful waterfall spilling over Friant Dam.
That’s because Millerton Lake is full to the brim. A water volume of 1,650 cubic feet per second (CFS) is creating the water blanket.
Just as federal officials were laying out alternative scenarios last week for steep water supply cuts from the Colorado River due to the drying Southwest, California officials were warning that this year’s historic Sierra snowpack could flood much of the state later this year.
On Monday, California water officials slogged through deep snow 7,000 feet above sea level, west of Lake Tahoe, to affirm what everyone already knew: A series of Pacific storms has generated record-level amounts of precipitation, filling reservoirs, inundating low-lying towns and fields and threatening more disastrous flooding as the Sierra snowpack melts.
On Monday, California water officials slogged through deep snow 7,000 feet above sea level, west of Lake Tahoe, to affirm what everyone already knew: A series of Pacific storms has generated record-level amounts of precipitation, filling reservoirs, inundating low-lying towns and fields and threatening more disastrous flooding as the Sierra snowpack melts.
Its negative aspects aside, the immense amount of rain and snow is welcome relief from drought that has plagued the state for the past three years.
