Western U.S. Weather Blog

Share |

The Final Sierra Snow Count Is In--A Banner Year

May 3, 2010; 12:19 PM ET

The last snow survey of the year has taken place in the Sierra, and the results show a banner season for the Sierra snowpack. According to figures released at the end of last week, the northern Sierra finished the season at 188% of normal, the central Sierra at 121%, and the southern Sierra at 139%.

These figures are great news, signaling an end to the streak of four consecutive drought years. Along with above-normal snowfall in the Sierra, most lower-elevation rain gages have recorded above-normal rainfall for the 2009-2010 water season.

Here is how deep the snow cover was over the Sierra as of May 2.

And here is a graph showing this year's snowfall by month compared to normal, and compared to previous years, at one station, Mammoth Pass, including last year, the driest year, and the snowiest year.

But it seems this good news is not initially going to help farmers and others wanting more water as much as you would think. Even with more water available this year, the state is only planning on granting 40 percent of agencies request. As reported in the North County Times, water authority spokesman Jason Foster said:

Certainly we'd rather see the snowpack levels higher than not, but with the pumping restrictions in place, they're really going to be of limited benefit.

The pumping restrictions are in place to protect endangered fish in the Delta region and seem to be a barrier on raising allocations.

In addition, it was reported in the San Francisco Chronicle that another reason to keep the pumping restrictions where they are was due to still-current low water levels in Lake Oroville and Lake Tahoe.

But Lake Oroville is at higher levels now than in recent years. One would not expect, with much of the snowmelt yet to begin, that either lake would as of yet see much benefit from the big snowpack, and lake levels will be coming way up through the rest of the spring and early summer.

It seems water officials will be taking a very conservative approach to how much water is given out this year, despite the good numbers. To a degree, I understand this, but for the farmers who have been struggling in recent years, it would be nice if they saw at least some benefit from the excess water that fell this winter. Maybe the allocations will change with time as officials see reservoirs filling with snowmelt. Of course, there is still the need to be judicious with water use. That should be always the case now, no matter whether it has been a wet winter or a dry one. But remember, California produces a huge proportion of this nation's vegetables and fruits. Keeping them watered is important for this state's economy, as well as the availability of quality produce at reasonable prices for everyone in the United States.

The views expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of AccuWeather, Inc. or AccuWeather.com

Comments

Comments left here should adhere to the AccuWeather.com Community Guidelines. Profanity, personal attacks, and spam will not be tolerated.

More Ken Clark

  • Nothing Big This Week

    May 7, 2012; 12:29 PM ET

    For the rest of the week there will not be anything drastic going on in the West.

  • Lake Mead Water Levels Dropping

    Apr 27, 2012; 12:40 PM ET

    Despite a late-season surge in precipitation across a large part of the West, Lake Mead is still expected to experience noticeably lower levels

  • Another Late-Season Storm at Midweek

    Apr 23, 2012; 12:28 PM ET

    A combination of two separate storms will bring much of the West a round of wet, cool weather for Wednesday into Thursday.

  • Huge Temperature Gradient

    Apr 20, 2012; 12:36 PM ET

    Most coastal areas are only in the low to mid 60s but it warms to the 80s in the eastern coastal cities and the 90s in the valleys.

  • Summerlike Weather by Weeks End

    Apr 16, 2012; 12:45 PM ET

    This ridge will likely bring well above-normal temperatures by Friday into the weekend for areas away from the Pacific waters.

  • Two California Late-Season Storms

    Apr 10, 2012; 12:36 PM ET

    some welcomed rainfall levels of between 1/2 to 1 inch over central California with nearly the same amounts around the Los Angeles Basin.

  • Storms Return Next Week

    Apr 6, 2012; 12:42 PM ET

    In fact what is so scary about this long range forecast is how much the models agree.

About This Blog

Ken Clark
Ken Clark's Western U.S. weather blog tackles daily weather events with commentary from one of the most experienced and trusted Western U.S. weather experts.

AccuWeather.com Bloggers

5/23/2012 8:51:05 AM /blog-entry.asp 8 .75.112 (accuweather)-- [new]