Since the beginning of 2023, California has seen a record-setting amount of snow across the state, especially in the Sierra Nevada, setting up the state to close in on the records for the highest snow water equivalent, which was reached just over a decade ago.
Snow water equivalent is the amount of water that would result from melting the snowpack, according to the UC Berkeley Central Sierra Snow Lab.
An atmospheric river is set to descend on California in coming days, following a spate of wet weather across the state.
An atmospheric river is a corridor of concentrated, tropical moisture traveling through the atmosphere. The river has raised an alert for significant flooding throughout California, and experts have warned of severe disruption.
After three of the driest years in California history, this winter’s storms brought some of the wettest and snowiest weeks on record to parts of the state. Snowpack accumulated during winter is vital to the state’s water system because the natural form of water storage melts during the spring and fills reservoirs that can then distribute water downstream where needed.
December’s parade of winter storms left a mark on California’s snowpack, with some substantial gains in the Sierra Nevada and Southern Cascades’ snowfall totals tallied in past days. The state has already seen an active wet season that began in September, but even with recent deluges, data shows that much more precipitation is needed to actually get out of multiyear drought.
Winter is off to a running start in California, after a pair of December storms dropped several feet of mountain snow and soaking low-elevation rains across much of the state. Parts of the Sierra Nevada have recorded more than double the expected snowpack for the time of year, and another significant storm could be on the way this weekend.
With California’s wet season nearing its end, snow levels across the state remain disappointingly low, and state officials are warning that a lack of melt-off will mean another year of difficult water shortages.
Officials with the California Department of Water Resources, who are scheduled to conduct their monthly snow survey on Tuesday, will find snowpack in the state’s mountains measuring less than 65% of average for the date. The reading bodes poorly for the scores of reservoirs that fill with melted snow — the source of almost a third of California’s water.
Snow levels in California have fallen from their December glory after an extraordinarily dry January, stoking fears that the drought will not only continue but worsen in a third difficult year.
State officials, who will conduct the second snow survey of the season Tuesday, will find snowpack in California’s mountains measuring just shy of average for this time of year. While average is better than the modest accumulation seen the past two winters, it’s a disappointing drop from the 160% of average recorded a month ago.
The lack of winter cold snaps are now another issue piling on the the climate change situation. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), released it’s climate summary findings, and in California, the key messages involved a 3°F temperature increase over the 20th century.
The warming temperatures over time are causing big swings across the board. Warmer temperatures mean snow is prone to fall at higher altitudes. What would have fallen at lower altitudes is becoming rain. The lack of snow limits our use of snowpack, a natural reservoir in California.
After months of extreme drought that triggered water shortages and stoked wildfires, heavy snow is falling in the Sierra Nevada — enough to break decades-old records.
The drought is far from over in California, but this week’s atmospheric river may have begun to put a small dent in the state’s worrisome water deficit. While a prior October atmospheric event earlier in the year brought historic rainfall totals to Northern California, this most recent storm delivered drenching rains to both the north and the south and blasted the Sierra Nevada with snow.
