Tag Archive for: Sierra Nevada

Storm to Bring Widespread Rain to Bay Area Early Thursday, Up to 3 Feet of Snow in Sierra Nevada

/in , , /by /The Mercury Newsby Paul Rogers

Boosting what has been a mediocre start so far to the winter season, a storm from the Pacific Northwest is expected to bring widespread rain to the Bay Area early Thursday and blanket the Sierra Nevada with up to 3 feet of new snow. “This is a pretty good event. It’s going to be beneficial across the board,” said Brayden Murdock, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Monterey. “We are excited for this one.”

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From the Air, Scientists Map ‘Fast Paths’ for Recharging California’s Groundwater

/in , , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Ian James

Thousands of years ago during the last Ice Age, rivers flowed from giant glaciers in the Sierra Nevada down to the Central Valley, carving into rock and gouging channels at a time when the sea level was about 400 feet lower. When the glaciers retreated, meltwater coursed down and buried the river channels in sediment.

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Storm Provides Some Drought Relief, but Water Shortage Prevails

/in , , /by /LAistby Erin Stone

The last few days of rain and snow provided some welcome relief, but don’t be fooled — the water shortage is far from over. That wet trend will have to continue if there’s to be any real dent in the ongoing drought. Burbank, LAX, Lancaster and other places in Los Angeles County broke some rainfall records, but when it comes to drought and much of the Southland’s drinking water supply, it’s the snowfall up north that really matters.

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As Climate Change Erodes Western Snowpacks, One Watershed Tries a ‘Supershed Approach’ to Shield its Water Supply

/in , , /by /Western Water (Water Education Foundation)by Nick Cahill

The foundation of California’s water supply and the catalyst for the state’s 20th century population and economic growth is cracking. More exactly, it’s disappearing.

Climate change is eroding the mountain snowpack that has traditionally melted in the spring and summer to fill rivers and reservoirs across the West.

Now, with less precipitation falling as snow and that snow melting faster and earlier in parts of major mountain ranges like California’s Sierra Nevada and the Rockies in the West, managers of a major Sierra Nevada watershed east of Sacramento are replumbing their water systems to better handle bursts of rain instead of trickling snowmelt. Their “Supershed Approach” to replace the loss of the once-reliable snowmelt is being touted as a possible model for other Western watersheds that are expected to experience stronger, more frequent snow droughts.

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More High-Elevation Wildfire is Sapping Western Snowpack, Study Finds

/in , , /by /KUNCby Kaleb Roedel

Researchers from Colorado State University focused on areas they call “late snow zones” – regions in the Western mountains where snow doesn’t typically melt until May or later.

They found that between 1984 and 2020, wildfire activity increased in 70% of these zones throughout the West. The mountain ranges studied included the Sierra Nevada, Cascades, Basin and Range, and Northern and Southern Rockies.

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California’s Drought, Relentless and Inexorable, Takes its Toll

/in , , /by /California Weeklyby Will Shuck

With the rainy season come and gone, drought’s withered hand remained firmly fixed on California this month, as it has been, with few exceptions, for the last decade.

Woes pile up. Rain didn’t save us, the snowpack is all but gone, the Coastal Commission says no desalinating sea water, and urban-interface fires have already begun.

It’s almost summer in the Golden State.

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Watershed Moment

/in , , /by /Stanford Magazineby Tracie White

Dave Steindorf knows California’s North Fork Feather River like his backyard. He’s driven along its banks so many times, people wave to him as he goes by. As he passes, he takes mental notes about any day-to-day changes—silt backup in reservoirs that could muck up habitat, or river levels low enough to threaten frog and trout spawning grounds. His personal slogan is “Couch potatoes make poor river advocates,” so he gets out in the river whenever he can, on his kayak or with a fly-fishing rod in his hands.

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Folsom Lake Levels Improve, Drought Conditions Still an Issue

/in , , /by /FOX 40 (Sacramento)by Julian Tack and Gurajpal Sangha

The latest Spring snowstorms helped increase California’s water supply and lake levels, but the Golden State continues to face drought conditions.

April’s wet weather in northern California have increased water levels at lakes like Folsom Lake.

“The particular storm of this week increased the rain and snow over northern California by about 5-10 percent,” said Meteorologist and forecaster Jim Mathews with the National Weather Service.

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Late-Season Snowfall Helps California in Dry Winter, Drought

/in , /by /AP News

Heavy snow in Northern California has given a recent boost of moisture to a region grappling with drought.

The Central Sierra Snow Lab at the University of California, Berkeley said Friday that more than 16 inches (43 centimeters) of snow fell in the past day.

“We are now at 61% of our normal #snow #water equivalent for this date,” said a tweet from the lab specializing in snow hydrology and climatology.

The spring storm had triggered warnings from the Oregon border down through the southern Cascades and the northern Sierra Nevada. But the late-season precipitation was welcome after a dry winter.

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Californians Urged to Save Water as State Faces Dismal Snowpack in Sierra Nevada

/in , , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Ian James

California is going into spring with a minuscule amount of snow in the Sierra Nevada, leaving the state in a third year of extreme drought and with depleted reservoirs to draw on during what’s likely to be another hot, parched summer.

The mountain snowpack, as measured by snow sensors across the Sierras, now stands at just 38% of the long-term average.

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