snow survey

SNOWPACK IN SIERRAS NOW ABOVE NORMAL –WITH EL NIÑO YET TO COME

 

 

By Miriam Raftery

December 31, 2015 (Sacramento)—Yesterday the California Department of Water Resources held the first snow survey of the season in the Sierra Nevada mountains. After four years of drought, the snowpack is above normal and state officials are cautiously optimistic, though reservoir levels remain below normal.

The survey found snow depth of 54.7 inches – 16 inches more than the average since 1965.  The water content is 136 percent of average for this time of year at the station ( 90 miles east of Sacramento at an elevation of 6,800 feet).  In addition, electronic readings of 99 stations throughout the Sierra Nevada mountains found water content of the snowpack is 108 percent of average for the date over multiple decades.


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