California Snowpack at 110% of Average in Sierra Nevada After Rainy Winter

Breitbart ^ | 04/03/2024 | JOEL B. POLLAK

[ChicagoConservative27]

The California snowpack is at 110% of average in 2024, the state Department of Water Resources (DWR) said on Tuesday, after conducting the annual snow survey.

Officials measured the snow depth at Phillips Station in the Sierra Nevada mountains, recording a depth of 64 inches, which is 113% of the annual average. Measurements from elsewhere in the mountain range were used to calculate the combined average of 110% — a good sign of a healthy water supply.

While some expected a dry winter, especially after the wet 2022-23 winter produced record snowfall in parts of the state, the 2023-24 winter produced heavy rains, nearing record levels in parts of the state, including Los Angeles.

[avital2]

we don’t have the capacity to store excess water thanks to bad management. next year is bound to be dry just playing the averages. and they are removing some dams so goodness knows what will be - uncertainty for sure.

[hardspunned]

I like to go to Yosemite Valley this time of year because the falls and Merced are crazy full. I took a grandson same week (spring break) last year. The weather was perfect. Rolling the dice in December.

[lurk]

Precip means nothing. It flows freely to the sea.

[rktman]

Enjoy. This is forecast to be headed out during the weekend.

[ETCM]

But there’s no way to store the water. Drought by August!

CA major reservoirs are well above seasonal average levels, and with runoff will remain that way. We don't need more reservoirs for normal/wet years like this, we need them for droughts like we just had. We should also build at least a dozen desalination plants.

[Karliner]

How about the water table? There’s not enough storage. That means run off and it will not last.

[FlingWingFlyer]

Caused by those pesky climate change kids, “El Niño y La Niña”.

[Psycho_Runner]

There is a less stressful way of getting into Yosemite Park. Take Highway 140. The highway doesn’t climb up and over like Highway 120, where tire chains is sometimes required. The city of Mariposa is the highpoint. Yosemite Valley Floor is 4,000 feet. The cold front moving in might cause snow on Valley Floor.

[ETCM]

Almost all of the water table measurements on the state site are from 2023, so there’s no current data. This year will help, but we need another year or three of normal to wet winters to restore ground water in the central valley. As long as we don’t go back into a drought, it will recover. But we WILL need more reservoirs and desalination, because there WILL be more drought years ahead. Droughts are just part of the western US climate.

[Karliner]

Here, this should help show what I mean. Not certain about the bills but my cousins are working hard ( farmers) to get the water back into the ground where there's less condensation and run off. The Reservoir's are great but for 45,000,000 people with over 25,000,000 never conserving in sage brush areas from Los Angeles to San Diego needs much more help.

California siphons from the Colorado river, the older aquifers but there's a serious need to pump that water underground to replenish the water including central valley and Imperial Valleys.

I don't think California will adopt the Israeli ways of desalination plants and how they make their deserts green which is why replenishing the underground waterways is healthy. It's not a complete answer but it helps.

Replenishing ground table, building more aquifers

[j.havenfarm]

I forget the exact number but it’s something like El Niño only causes a wet winter over the Sierra 4 or 5 times out of 7. This year through December it played out the other way and large storms stayed away. It was only after the first of the year, with El Nino weakening, that we got some major precipitation

[Starstruck]

Everything causes Climate Change and Climate Change causes everything.

[Vaduz]

Long range weather forecasts get filed in the trash can climate control experts make new plan.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

Yeah, when the falls are really flowing in a good snowpack year, it is really spectacular. We took a wine tasting trip to Walla Walla, WA last week and stopped at Palouse Falls (eastern Washington) on the way there. It was spectacular even though this wasn't a high snowfall year.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

I forgot to mention the Palouse Falls are 200 feet high. For comparison:
Upper Yosemite Falls: 1,430 feet
Middle Cascades: Total drop of 675 feet
Lower Yosemite Falls: 320 feet

[ETCM]

I’m camping outside Yosemite next month and look forward to seeing all the falls and streams in their full glory.

[Newtoidaho]

The climate warming extremists are always crying “drought! drought! drought!” in Idaho. So far this year over 200% of average precip in western Idaho. On top of 125% annual precip last year. Oh, and it’s raining like an sob right now.

[hardspunned]

Yeah, Mariposa was the route I was more than likely going to take. The cold and nastiness just completely turned the wife off (real feel -2 Friday and 8” in the valley) Granddaughters, 8 and 10, can pretty much take or leave it. Great day whale watching, nice hike on the just north of Big Sur (coast highway washed out 11 miles south of Monterey Monday). Swimming at hotel and aquarium tomorrow, then Muir Woods and what we can find on the coast north of San Francisco through Monday.