The California Department of Water Resources is to conduct its first “media-oriented manual snow survey” of the 2017 water year today in the Sierra Nevada, with the state potentially headed for a sixth year of drought. A week ago, the snowpack held 10.5 inches of water content statewide, 72 percent of average, one month into the three wettest months of the year, according to electronic monitoring.
“It’s too soon to know whether this winter’s wet season will deliver enough rain and snow to move California closer to the end of the state’s five-year drought,” said the department. “The snow pack usually is at its deepest and most water-laden around April 1, so weather watchers won’t know with certainty what kind of wet season it has been until then.” State climatologist Michael Anderson said the state needs sustained rain and snowfall and “a decent snowpack” to overcome the drought.
An “unusually cold storm” brought snowfall to the northern Sierras on Monday and rain to the Central Valley on Monday with more precipitation forecast through the week, said the Sacramento Bee. “Snow is critical because a healthy snowpack acts as an additional set of reservoirs, bolstering the state’s overall water supply. In a decent year, the snowpack contributes about 30 percent of the state’s supplies, refilling reservoirs and canals during spring and summer.”