It’s been a stormy February in California, but snowpack levels in the Sierra still haven't reached the average for this time of year.
During their monthly survey conducted on Feb. 29, researchers at Phillips Station in Lake Tahoe saw a snow depth of about four feet.
Statewide reports say California snowpack is at 80% of the average for this time of year. Overall, snowpack levels are much lower than they were at the end of February last year, when the state was at nearly double the average. Experts say warmer storms, which brought lots of rain but less snowfall, are to blame.
“While today’s results are more promising than the first survey here two months ago, when we saw the tufts of grass sticking out through the snow, when the ground was barely covered, we’ve had a number of warmer storms come in,” said Andy Reising, a water resources engineer with the California Department of Water Resources. “The snow-rain line was a lot higher then, so what that means is where we’re normally hoping to build snowpack, rain was falling instead.”
However, the storms this year have been more spaced out. Experts say that’s made the resulting precipitation more manageable than last year.
“They’ve been spread out enough to allow relief for our river systems,” said Angelique Fabbian-Leon, the state hydrometeorologist. “This is quite different than last year, where we received several atmospheric rivers back to back which ultimately caused flooding impacts across the state.”
She said the state will need to see more snowfall in order to reach the April 1 average, which is the time of year when snowpack levels typically peak.
An upcoming snowstorm at the tail end of this week might help in raising snowpack levels. The National Weather Service expects blizzard conditions in the Sierra beginning Thursday that will last into the weekend. They’re advising Californians to avoid traveling through the mountains.
“It will be a cold one, our first big cold storm of the year, and it will be a good snow producer,” said Reising.
However, Fabbian-Leon said one big storm won’t be enough to achieve average snowpack levels on its own. She said California will need to see multiple storms in March to reach the April 1 average.
With climate change, experts say snowpack in California’s Sierra Nevada will likely see a 48 to 65% loss from the historical April 1 average.
“It's just not as beneficial to get the rain as it is to get the snow,” said Greg Pierce, the director of UCLA’s Human Right to Water Solutions Lab. “A lot of that's due to climate change and is a worrying trend to see coming to fruition.”
Pierce said that means California will have to rely less and less on slow-melting snowpack as a primary water resource. That means locally ramping up the infrastructure related to other ways of holding onto water, like stormwater capture and groundwater storage.
“That’s really going to pay off, but it’s going to take decades to get there,” Pierce said. “We really need to invest in those to see the water supply benefits over time.”
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