Recent storms have boosted California's Sierra Nevada snowpack but not enough to fully compensate for a dry start to winter. Measurements Wednesday found the water content of the snowpack is 70% of average to date.
California Needs More Storms, Groundwater To Avoid Prolonged Drought, Experts Say Listen
Update RequiredTo play audio, update browser or Flash plugin.
Sean de Guzman, chief of snow surveys for the California Department of Water Resources, measures the depth of the snowpack during the second snow survey of the season at Phillips Station near Echo Summit, Calif., Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2021.
Randall Benton / AP Photo
Northern California was walloped at the end of January by the winter’s first big storm, which poured heavy rain and loads of snow across the region. That was great for the snowpack in the Sierra, which supplies around a third of California’s water needs.
The California Department of Water Resources performed a snow survey Wednesday, the results of which were decidedly mixed.
“The state experienced a series of storms over the past couple of weeks that dropped significant amounts of rain and snow,” said Sean de Guzman, the water department’s chief of snow surveys. “But it’s not nearly enough to make up the deficit we’ve experienced the last few months.”
A monster storm hammered the Sierra Nevada Mountains beginning last Wednesday, dropping enormous snow loads at the peaks, while the rain down by the coast caused flooding and an entire segment of Highway 1 through Big Sur to wash out.
A series of storms so far in 2021 has drastically improved fresh water reserves in California, according to the latest snow survey results from the Dept. of Water Resources.
Wildfires in California already nearly triple the statewide average
Redding Record Searchlight
Even though it s only February, California has begun the year with already more than double the number of wildfires than in the first month of 2020 a record-setting year.
And the number of acres burned on non-federal land last month was more than 20 times the state’s 5-year average for January.
While the rain and snow of the past week may make last year’s fire season seem like a distant memory, the numbers are a reminder that wildfires have become more common year-round in California.
During January, there were 297 fires that burned 1,171 acres statewide on non-federal land, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.