SACRAMENTO – The California Department of Water Resources on Wednesday released its second snow survey of the season, showing snowpack is below average, two months before the usual seasonal highpoint date.
DWR public information officer Elizabeth Scott said the latest snow survey “confirmed that water content in California’s mountain snowpack is far below normal for this time of year. Manual and electronic readings record the snowpack’s statewide water content at only 37 percent of normal for the date,” just 23 percent of the average April 1 reading, when snowpack normally is at its peak before the spring melt.
DWR Director Mark Corwin said “so far, we just haven’t received a decent number of winter storms. We have good reservoir storage thanks to wet conditions last year, but we also need more rain and snow this winter.”
Results of the manual readings off Highway 50 near Echo Summit showed the highest reading at Lyons Creek, (6,700 feet elevation) with 21 inches of snow, (30 percent of the long-term average). There was around 15 inches of snow at three other locations, Alpha (7,600 feet), Phillips Station (6,800 feet) and Tamarack Flat (6,500 feet).
Scott said the “Lyons Creek and Alpha snow measurements were the second lowest on record,” (going back to 1958 for Lyons, 1966 for Alpha). Water content in Lyons Creek snowpack was 5.8 inches, compared with the record low of 0 inches in 1963. Water content at Alpha was 3.6 inches, compared with the record low of 2.9 inches in 1976.
Tamarack Flat was the fourth lowest on record going back to 1946, and the Phillips reading was the second lowest, dating to 1946.
Readings indicated water content in the northern mountains is 41 percent of normal for Feb. 1, and 26 percent of the April 1 seasonal average. Central Sierra snowpack is 32 percent of normal, 20 percent of April 1 average. Southern Sierra pack is 42 percent of average, 25 percent of April 1’s average.
Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
