Drought assessment following recent California winter storms

The nine atmospheric winter rivers that brought much-needed rain and snow were the biggest driver of snow accumulation in the Sierra.

The UC Berkeley Snow Lab recorded snow cover at 205% of the average for this time of year. They rated the entire state of California at 166%.

“Here at the Central Sierra Snow Lab, we have 48 inches of snow water equivalent, which is the amount of water you get from snowpack melt. And, realistically speaking, as long as we have low temperatures and don’t see heavy rain during snowfalls, we should be able to save most of the water that is there,” said Andrew Schwartz, lead researcher at the Center . Snow Lab at UC Berkeley.

Some of this runoff will be consumed by the ecosystem, but most of it will end up in rivers and state reservoirs, which will be managed by the Department of Water Resources, Schwartz said.

It was recently announced that it will be able to supply 35% of the fresh water requested by water agencies this year compared to previous years. The increase is due to an additional 68 billion gallons now expected due to snow cover.

“We get this water flowing from our taps, and we can provide a continuous flow of water through the melting snowpack, not just in the spring when the snowpack melts the most,” Schwartz said.

If we have intermittent rain and snow over the next few months, this could further increase the state’s water allocation if the snowmelt extends into the summer.

The Department of Water Resources is currently conducting survey flights to gather additional information about the snow cover that has accumulated as a result of these severe storms. The data from these flights will be used to improve the accuracy of future water runoff forecasts.

Heavy snow covered the San Gabriel Mountains in northern Los Angeles County on Thursday, exacerbating snow cover in California. Here’s a comparison to what it looked like last month.