After an extremely dry January, California’s snowpack in the Sierra Nevada now measures just 65% of the average for this time of year, but state water officials said two approaching winter storms are expected to bring more snow and rain that will add to the state’s water supplies.
State officials announced the below-average snowpack measurements as they carried out their monthly snow survey at Phillips Station near South Lake Tahoe. Fresh snow was falling as they drove a metal tube into the snow to measure its water content, adding to data collected across the Sierra mountains.
“We’ve had a very dry January,” said Andy Reising, manager of snow surveys and water supply forecasting for the state Department of Water Resources. “It has hurt our snowpack by not adding to it. So we’re behind the eight ball throughout the state.”
As of Jan. 1, the statewide snowpack had measured 108% of average after a series of large storms brought snow in November and December, with the largest accumulations in the northern Sierra. But the unusually dry January has left the snowpack snow significantly below average.
In the southern Sierra region, the snowpack now measures 47% of average.
The first of two atmospheric river storms began bringing rain and snow on Friday and is set to deliver more over the weekend. Another storm is approaching over the Pacific Ocean and expected to arrive next week.
The storms coming from the tropics are warm, and it’s uncertain how much additional snow they will bring, Reising said.
“There’s a lot of precipitation coming, but it’s warmer,” Reising said. “Some of it will run off. We’ll get some snow, but we just don’t know how much.”
On average, the Sierra snowpack supplies about 30% of California’s water supplies.
Karla Nemeth, director of the Department of Water Resources, said despite a good start to the snowpack in the northern Sierra in November and December, “we can look back as recently as 2013 and 2021 to show how quickly conditions can change for the drier.”
“California missed out on critical snow-building storms in January,” Nemeth said, “which has pushed the state down below average for this time of year.”
She said that, while the coming storms could improve the outlook, “sustained periods of no precipitation can dry the state out very quickly.”
“For each day it’s not snowing or raining, we are not keeping up with what we need,” Nemeth said.
