Storms have boosted snowpack after season’s slow start
Storms have piled snow on the Sierra Nevada in recent weeks, with the weekend storm bringing a foot of snow to some Tahoe ski areas.
Statewide, the snowpack is at 49% of average for this time of year — a stark contrast to this time last year, when the Sierra snowpack was at a whopping 257% of average.
But modest improvements since New Year’s Day, when the snowpack was at just 28% of average, have “moved the snowpack in the right direction,” said a spokesperson for California’s Department of Water Resources, by email.
Snowpack plays a crucial role in California’s water supply, melting during the spring and summer and feeding reservoirs.
Recent storms have had their biggest impacts in the northern and central Sierra, where the snowpack is just over half of the normal amount.
Places in these regions gained upward of 6 inches of snow water equivalent, based on automated readings of snow water content, the amount of water released when snow melts. Lower Lassen Peak, in the Feather River basin that feeds into Lake Oroville, logged the largest gain: 12 inches. But the site is still at just 77% of average, according to DWR data. Sensors in Northern California are largely at 40% to 60% of average.
By contrast, measurements in the southern Sierra were in the neighborhood of 2 inches. The data comes from the California Nevada River Forecast Center.
Statewide, reservoir levels are still at 114% of average thanks to all the precipitation last year, said a DWR spokesperson by email.
Additional storms this week could bring additional snow to high elevations in the Sierra.