Readings indicate a possible dry winter – or not
Despite some recent storms dusting the Sierra with snow, the latest snowpack readings are tracking right along with the driest year on record.
Readings on Jan. 10 from Owens Valley snow pillows reveal a miniscule snowpack, coming in at about 3 inches of water equivalent. An average amount of snow at this time of year would be about 10 inches of water equivalent.
The low snow reading translates into an average snow level at 27% of normal to date for the Eastern Sierra, and a mere 13% of the April 1 average, according to the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power.
Those readings are right at the levels at the same time of year during the 2014-15 snow year, which was the driest year in the Sierra. That year, overall snowpack didn’t even reach 10 inches of water equivalent. That “snow drought” caused LADWP to not export any Eastern Sierra water through the LA Aqueduct
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for the first time since the aqueduct opened in 1913.
A slow start? However, it is not uncommon for the Eastern Sierra snowpack to start out slowly and build over the winter. For example, in 2021-22, the snow levels were about the same as this year’s Jan. 10 reading and the dry year of 201415. The snowpack picked up over the winter. Last year, the biggest snow year on record, the snowpack barely hit average levels through December before massive, multiple storms launched the snowpack into record territory starting in January.
The Jan. 11, 2023, snowpack reading hit 276% of average year to date. Also by that date, big atmospheric river snowstorms had dumped a year’s worth of water in the Eastern Sierra high country. The snowpack’s water equivalent was measured 132% of the April 1 average, which is the key date for when LADWP and other water managers estimate runoff for the year.
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The massive 2023 snow year came on the heels of three years of drought and two years of record-low runoff.
By this time last year, Mammoth Mountain and town of Mammoth Lakes were quite literally buried under snow. This year, two recent, moderately substantial storms have increased the season total snowfall at base lodge to 65 inches. The resort averages about 400 total inches of snow a year.
Despite the lack of complete snow coverage on the ski hill, visitation to Mammoth Lakes has not seen a significant drop. Resort and town officials have credited the extensive, and expense investment in snowmaking on Mammoth Mountain with providing enough man-made snow to keep more than 100 trails open, which keeps the skiers and snowboarders coming.
Site readings
Six snow pillow sites reflect the Sierra’s slow start to the snow year.
The readings on Big Pine Creek are particularly weak. The Jan. 10 snow reading was at 8% of normal for the date, and just 4% of the April 1 average, with less than 1 inch water equivalent. Sawmill Creek was also seeing extremely low readings, with only 12% of average to date and 5% of April 1 averages. Rock Creek readings are essentially the same. Gem Pass is a tad deeper, with 19% of current average and 8% of April 1 average. The water reading came in at about 3 inches.
The second largest snowpack resided on Mammoth Pass, with 7.5 inches of water, which is 38% of normal to date and 18% of April 1 average. Cottonwood Lakes saw a snowpack at 46% of average to date and 22% of April 1 average.
Rainfall totals are also low. Precipitation totals for the rain year (which starts Oct. 1) are roughly 1 inch or less throughout the Eastern Sierra.