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First California Snowpack Measurement of 2020 is Boosted by Recent Storms

/in , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Hannah Fry

After a slow start to California’s wet winter season, a series of storms that hammered the state at the tail end of 2019 dumped enough snow on the Sierra Nevada to kick off the new year with a solid snowpack.

Surveyors with the California Department of Water Resources trudged through a snow-covered field Thursday at the department’s Phillips station — fresh powder crunching beneath their snowshoes —and plunged a hollow pole into the snowpack for the first monthly measurement that serves as an important marker for the state’s water supply.

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Sierra Nevada Snowpack Begins 2020 in Good Shape, a Hopeful Sign for California Water Outlook

/in , /by /The Mercury News (San Jose)by Paul Rogers

After a dry start to California’s winter rainy season, a series of big storms that began around Thanksgiving delivered enough snow for the Sierra Nevada to begin 2020 in relatively good shape.

As of Dec. 31, the statewide Sierra Nevada snowpack — a major source of California’s water supply — stood at 94% of its historical average.

That’s the highest total in four years, when it came in at 106% on Dec. 31, 2015.

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California Department of Water Resources to Conduct First Snow Survey of 2020

/in , /by /23 ABC News Bakersfieldby News Staff

The California Department of Water Resources is set to conduct the first snow survey of 2020 on Thursday.

The DWR snow survey is a chance for officials to measure the water content in the snowpack. Data collected from the monthly snow surveys will help determine the amount of water that will melt and run off to state reservoirs during warmer months. The information is critical to the water managers who allocate California’s natural water resources to regions downstream.

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Strong Storms Boost California Snowpack to Highest December Level Since 2015

/in , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Hannah Fry

In a boost for California’s water supply, a series of recent storms that blanketed the Sierra Nevada in snow has built the state’s snowpack to its highest December level since 2015.

The snowpack — a key source of the state’s water supply — measured 113% of average this week, roughly 40% higher than the snowpack during the same time in 2018, according to the Department of Water Resources.

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There’s a Silver Lining to California’s Wildfires: More Snowpack and Water Storage, Study Finds

/in , /by /Sacramento Beeby Michael Finch II

Wildfires in California leave behind acres of scorched land that make snowpack formation easier and more water runoff downstream from the Sierra Nevada to basins in the Central Valley, increasing the amount of water stored underground.

That’s the finding from researchers at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, who discovered that blazes in some parts of the state could result in more water availability.

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California’s Sierra Nevada Snowpack Remains Significantly Above Average, And That’s Mostly Good News

/in , , /by /The Weather Channel

The southern portion of the Sierra has the heaviest snowpack at 135% of its mid-June average. Since 2001, only 2011 had a heavier snowpack in the southern Sierra this late in the season. The central Sierra is 120% of its mid-June average. Since 2001, only 2017, 2011 and 2005 have had snowpacks on par with or heavier as of mid-June in this portion of the Sierra. Snowpack in the northern Sierra is slightly above average for mid-June, but only five other years since 2001 had snowpack near or above what we are seeing right now in that part of the mountain chain.

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High Heat Quickly Melting Away California’s Snowpack

/in , , /by /CBS 13 (Sacramento)by Rachel Wulff

That excessive heat warning into the foothills is doing a number on the impressive snowpack in the Sierra. With temperatures in the 80s, what took weeks to melt is now taking days. “We found a little bit of snow and we were excited because it was a novelty. But then we realized it was everywhere, said Josh Jameison. Jameison and his girlfriend Megan didn’t expect to see so much snow as they set off for a hike. “The snow is a lot higher than previous years because I am usually out here on the first, and it’s still pretty bad,” she said. But snow on Loch Leven Trail during their midday hike didn’t last long.

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With Large Sierra Snowpack, DWR Could Soon Release Water Over The Oroville Dam Spillway

/in , , /by /Oroville Mercury - Registerby Brody Fernandez

Recent rains and snow pack could force California’s Department of Water Resources to release Oroville Dam’s main spillway as early as next week. Currently, the 2019 snowpack for California is now the fifth largest on record dating back to 1950, according to DWR officials. As of Monday, the snowpack is slightly larger than the amount in 2017 when the state received more rain. However, the winter of 2018-19 has been uncharacteristically colder, resulting in a greater snowpack.

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Skiing In July, Dangerous Rivers, Full Reservoirs: What Sierra’s Huge Snowpack Means For Summer

/in , /by /The Sacramento Beeby Dale Kasler

More rain is coming to the Sierra Nevada, adding to a bountiful spring that’s left the snowpack at twice its historical average for this time of year. The mountains are holding more snow than they were two years ago, when Northern California was coming off a historically wet winter that officially ended the drought. But the heavy spring runoff is frustrating some hikers, campers and rafters. And it’s left farmers in part of the Central Valley frustrated that they aren’t getting full allocations of irrigation water despite one of the wettest winters in years.

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California Sees Biggest June Snowpack In Nearly A Decade Thanks To Spring Storms

/in , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Hannah Fry

During a weekend that’s widely known as the unofficial start of summer in California, visitors who trekked to Lake Tahoe for Memorial Day were met with a flurry of snowflakes that turned the landscape into a winter wonderland in May. The storm responsible for the late-season snow in the Sierra Nevada town was one in a series of chilly spring systems that kept temperatures low following a marathon wet winter that filled reservoirs and streams and brought once-dry waterfalls back to life in the region.

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