California Snowpack Far Above Normal Levels After Storms

PHILLIPS STATION (AP/CBS13) – California’s upland snowfall holds 160% of the h2o it usually does this clip of year, authorities h2o officials announced Thursday, marking a beardown commencement to the drought-stricken state’s traditionally bedewed wintertime season.

Still, it’s excessively aboriginal to find whether California volition spot capable rainfall and snowfall successful the months to travel to enactment a dent successful the drought.

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The authorities is “definitely not retired of the woods rather yet,” said Sean de Guzman, manager of the snowfall surveys and h2o proviso forecasting for the California Department of Water Resources.

De Guzman spoke astatine Phillips Station, 1 of hundreds of locations wherever authorities officials marque manual oregon physics snowpack measurements aggregate times per year.

DWR contiguous conducted the archetypal Phillips Station snowfall survey of the season. The survey recorded 78.5 inches of snowfall extent and snowfall h2o equivalent of 20 inches, which is 202% of mean for this day astatine Phillips Station. The statewide mean is 160% of average.#SnowSurvey2022 pic.twitter.com/7olLfJnnnP

— CA – DWR (@CA_DWR) December 30, 2021

About a 3rd of California’s h2o proviso comes from snowfall arsenic it melts and flows down from the Sierra Nevada and the Shasta-Trinity upland scope successful bluish California.

California conscionable finished its second-driest twelvemonth connected grounds and galore of the state’s reservoirs that proviso h2o for tens of millions of radical are astatine historical lows. But respective almighty storms swept done the authorities this month, dumping snowfall and causing immoderate roadworthy closures and large disruptions.

The storms made for a acold much affirmative snowfall speechmaking than past December, erstwhile h2o levels successful the snowpack were astatine conscionable 52% of the humanities average.

Feet of snowfall don’t construe straight into feet of water, truthful authorities officials study some the tallness of the snowfall and the magnitude of h2o runoff it would generate. At Phillips Station, wherever the Thursday measurement was taken, de Guzman reported 78.5 inches (199.4 centimeters) of snow. That contains 20 inches (50.8 centimeters) of water, helium said.

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That’s 202% of the humanities mean for that determination and 82% of what’s typically determination connected April 1, erstwhile the snowpack hits its peak. De Guzman said the authorities needs beardown precipitation successful the adjacent 3 months to get to oregon supra the emblematic April average, leaving plentifulness of h2o to tally down the mountains and into California’s streams and reservoirs.

Meanwhile, authorities Department of Water Resources Director Karla Nemeth said the beardown December numbers don’t alteration the state’s plea for Californians to conserve water. Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom called for a voluntarily 15% simplification successful h2o usage backmost successful July, but the authorities is acold from gathering that goal. State officials person warned mandatory h2o restrictions could beryllium coming if conditions don’t improve.

“We request much storms and mean temperatures this wintertime and spring, and we can’t beryllium definite it’s coming,” Nemeth said successful a statement. “So, it’s important that we proceed to bash our portion to support conserving – we volition request that h2o this summer.”

In 2013, California saw a bedewed December followed by an highly adust January and February during the past drought, authorities officials noted successful a quality release.

California is successful its 2nd acute drought successful the past decade. Scientists accidental overmuch of the U.S. West is enveloped successful a megadrought made worse by clime change.

Most of California is successful a terrible to utmost drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. Only a tiny portion of bluish California on the Oregon borderline is successful what’s considered an “exceptional drought,” the worst condition. That’s down importantly from September, erstwhile 45% of the authorities was gripped by exceptional drought.

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Copyright 2021 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.