After a slow start to the year, California’s snowpack has surged to above average conditions after heavy snowfall in the Sierra Nevada mountains over the weekend.
California’s snowpack now sits at 104 percent average for this date, according to data from the California Department of Water Resources on Monday.
Driving the news: The dry end to last year led California’s snowpack to only come in at 25 percent of average on Jan. 2.
- While California has seen heavy precipitation over the last two months, the storms have generally been warmer, leading to the snowpack sitting at 80 percent of average last week.
By the numbers: The weekend’s storms brought the snowpack’s percent of April 1 average up to 94 percent. The April 1 date is important because it is generally when California’s snowpack is at its peak.
- The percent of April 1 average before the weekend was at 71 percent.
- California now has an average snow water equivalent of 24.4 inches.
- The Northern Sierra region has the greatest snowpack at 111 percent normal for this date, followed by 104 percent for Central Sierra and 94 percent for Southern Sierra.
- The UC Berkeley Central Sierra Snow Lab – located at Donner Pass – reported a weekend snowfall of around six-feet three-inches.
