Snowpack survey west of Lake Tahoe at 30% of average with 7.5" of snow; Statewide is 25%

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - As anyone paying attention to the snow in the Sierra Nevada already knows, the snowpack is well below average. There has been a slow start to winter. In its first monthly snow course measurement of the year at Phillips Station on Tuesday, the Department of Water Resources (DWR) measured the snowpack at 30 percent of average with a snow depth of 7.5 inches. There is a snow-water equivalent of 3 inches. While it is at 30 percent of normal for this date, the snowpack is at 12 percent of average for April 1, the date when the snowpack is at its typical peak for the year.

Statewide, with information from over 130 snow sensors placed throughout the state, the average is 25 percent of the average for January 1.

Feb. 1 is the tentative next measure date for Phillips Station though people can follow on line daily as well as look at historical data HERE.

Last January 1, the five feet of snow was already 177 percent of average for the date.

"It is vastly different today," said Sean de Guzman, DWR manager of the Snow Surveys and Water Supply Forecasting Unit who was out measuring the snow. "It is still far too early to determine what will happen between now and April 1."

The snowpack and snow water equivalent have been measured at Phillips Station since 1941. It gives details to the state water departments to help figure out spring and summer water runoff to the reservoirs.

Currently, the reservoirs in the state are at 116 percent of average due to last year's heavy snow.

After one of the largest snowpacks on record last season, the start of this water year has been dry despite some recent storms in the last weeks of December that provided a small boost in the snowpack. While state reservoirs are still above average for this time of year and strong El Niño conditions are present in the Pacific Ocean, the outlook for the rest of the winter remains highly uncertain.

“California saw firsthand last year how historic drought conditions can quickly give way to unprecedented, dangerous flooding,” said DWR Director Karla Nemeth. “Although El Niño does not guarantee an above average water year, California is preparing for the possibility of more extreme storms while increasing our climate resilience for the next drought.”

On average, the Sierra snowpack supplies about 30 percent of California’s water needs. Its natural ability to store water is why the Sierra snowpack is often referred to as California's “frozen reservoir.” Data from these snow surveys and forecasts produced by DWR’s Snow Surveys and Water Supply Forecasting Unit are important factors in determining how DWR manages the state’s water resources. Due to last year’s above average conditions and historic snowpack, a total of 3.5 million acre-feet of water was captured in State Water Project (SWP) reservoirs. Lake Oroville, the SWP’s largest reservoir, is currently at 130 percent of average to date and state water managers are prepared to capture and store as much water as possible.