Snow is still low despite storm
Survey shows shortfall as wet season nears end
The storm that wrought avalanches at ski resorts and whiteouts on mountain roads last week was so fierce that California water officials postponed their much-anticipated monthly survey of snow depth, setting the stage for potentially better news this week.
But on Monday, when officials finally lugged their gauges into the High Sierra for their periodic made-for-TV measurement, they confirmed their suspicions: The biggest storm of the winter had done little to alter the state’s swing toward renewed drought.
California’s all-important snowpack measured 39 percent of average for the date at Phillips Station in El Dorado County, the state’s traditional survey spot south of Lake Tahoe, while snowpack statewide measured 37 percent of average.
“No, we’re not looking OK,” said Frank Gehrke, chief of the California Cooperative Snow Surveys Program for the Department of Water Resources. “It’s a much rosier picture than a week ago, but it does illustrate the need for everyone to be prudent in their use of water.”
California’s winter has been disappointingly dry. Some parts of the state have seen less than a fifth of average precipitation since October, the usual start of the wet season. The Bay Area has
received a little more than half its average.
While last winter delivered record-breaking storms that ended a historic, five-year drought, nearly 50 percent of the state has slipped back into at least moderate drought conditions, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.
California’s snowpack is vital for these drier areas. Reservoirs capture the runoff, and the state’s sprawling network of aqueducts carries it to the cities and farms that lack enough water of their own. As much as a third of the state’s water supply comes from the snow in the Sierra Nevada and lower Cascades.
Last week’s storms provided a welcome boost to the snowpack. As much as 8 feet of snow fell in the mountains in some spots, with avalanches reported at Mammoth Mountain and Squaw Valley, where guests were injured and a snowboarder temporarily buried. The Internet brimmed with photos of cars rolling into giant snowbanks.
At Phillips Station, just north of the Sierra-at-Tahoe resort, state surveyors found Monday that the snow level more than tripled over the course of a week, from 13 inches to 41.1 inches. The water content of the snow, which is what really matters to droughtworried officials, rose from 7 to 39 percent of average for the date.
Statewide, the water content of the snow rose from 22 percent of average to 37 percent. Last year at this time, it was a whopping 180 percent of average.
California water officials collect snow measurements from hundreds of electronic sensors spread across the state’s higher elevations every day. But once a month during winter, they conduct a manual survey for the news media.
For the state to approach average conditions this year, about six more storms would need to hit, according to meteorologists. Most of California’s rain and snow falls before midApril.
“Historic odds of getting anywhere near normal are close to zero now,” said Jan Null, forecaster and founder of Golden Gate Weather Services.
Another wet front may hit the California coast late Wednesday, bringing on-and-off flurries to parts of the Sierra on Thursday and Friday, said the National Weather Service. A second system is forecast for Sunday.
“It’s not going to be anything like what we experienced last weekend,” said Edan Weishahn, a weather service meteorologist based in Reno.
Still, California’s reservoirs remain at average levels for this time of year because of last winter’s bounty, state water officials said. The supply is enough for most communities to weather the year, even if there aren’t any more big storms.