California’s snowpack in the Sierra Nevada mountains is at 96% of the historical average for April 1st, the official date when the measurement is made, marking the highest 3-year average in the last 25 years, a good sign for water supply.
The San Jose Mercury News reported:
The April 1 reading, considered the most important of the year by water managers because it comes at the end of the winter season, follows two previous years when the snowpack reached 111% of normal on April 1 last year and 237% in 2023.
Although Tuesday fell just short of a third year in a row above 100%, together the past three years represent most bountiful three-year period for the Sierra snowpack in 25 years. The last time there was this much snow three years in a row came in 1998, 1999 and 2000.
“Gosh, what a relief,” said Jay Lund, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at UC Davis. “We’re in good shape. This is one of the better years in recent decades. We’ve had quite a lot of good precipitation this winter, especially in Northern California. And we haven’t had any major flooding. It’s been a near-Goldilocks amount. Just right.”
This year, winter rains came late — too late for Los Angeles, which suffered devastating wildfires in early January after a dry start to the winter season. When the rains came, they caused damaging mudflows in the burned areas.
