This month’s winter storm in Sierra Nevada increased the snow pack to 90% of its normal level.
Sierra Snowpack is currently close to average levels for the third year in a row, said Andy Reising, manager of snow surveys and water supply forecasts at the Ministry of Water Resources.
“It’s great news for the state,” Lising said, speaking to reporters on a snowy pasture near Lake Tahoe.
Measurement officials take it on approximately 260 sites in the Sierra. The northern mountains show more snow than the southern regions.
As of Friday, snowmen in the northern Sierra measured an average of 108% of dates, compared to 83% in the central Sierra and 81% in the southern Sierra.
Reising said officials hope that the storm, which is expected earlier next week, will further increase these percentages.
April 1 is usually the peak of the Sierra snowman, he said. From that day onwards, the increasing amount will begin to melt.
Snow in the Sierra supplies about a third of the state’s water supply.
The current snowpack level is one of several metrics for measuring California’s water outlook. The other is the amount of water stored in state reservoirs, well above average levels.
Reisising said Southern California could enter drought later this year if no more rainfall this spring. He said precipitation in the Los Angeles area is only about 50% of normal.
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