Sierra Snowpack at 20% of Normal
Submitted by paula on Sun, 01/05/2014 - 1:33am
The first snow survey of the season found more bare ground than snow throughout the higher elevations of the state. The survey, conducted by the Department of Water Resources on Friday, found the 9.3" of snowpack at Phillips Station to be 20% of the long term average. A dismal 2.3" of water content was found.
The average January 1 snowpack water content at Phillips Station is about 12 inches and the April 1 average 27.6 inches. Phillps had its lowest water content reading of 0.1 inch in 2012, in a snow depth of only 0.6 inches. On January 2 last year (2013) at Phillips there were 12.1 inches of water in 48.8 inches of snow. Besides 2012, the driest years at Phillips were 1987 (0.9 inches of snowpack water content), 1981 (2 inches), 1976 (2.7 inches) and 2000 (3 inches). Records at Phillips go back 50 years.
“While we hope conditions improve, we are fully mobilized to streamline water transfers and take every action possible to ease the effects of dry weather on farms, homes and businesses as we face a possible third consecutive dry year,” said DWR Director Mark Cowin. “And every Californian can help by making water conservation a daily habit.”
The results were much the same at the other measuring stations in California. The northern section is at 10% of normal and the southern section at 29% of normal, bringing the statewide average to 19% of normal.
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