Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
NASA Satellite Images Tell the Story of California's Growing Snowpack
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 9 months ago on
February 23, 2024

Share

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

State snowpack was 28% of normal on Jan. 1. It’s 86% of normal today.

More storms are forming over the Pacific Ocean.

Downtown LA has already gotten 17.8 inches of rain this water season.


After a dry start to winter, California’s wet season is finally well underway.

December downpours sent water racing through streets in coastal Ventura County and the city of Santa Barbara. Flash floods hit San Diego in late January, and back-to-back atmospheric river-fueled storms arrived earlier this month, causing wind damage in Northern California and hundreds of mudslides in Los Angeles. Yet another storm blew through over Presidents Day weekend.

The frequent deluges have fended off a return to the drought that has plagued the state over the past decade. Some parts of California are so wet these days that even Death Valley National Park has a lake big enough for kayakers. Still, the state is not on pace for a repeat of last year’s epic rain. And the mountains haven’t seen nearly as much snow as a year ago.

Here’s a look at California’s winter so far:

WHAT ABOUT SNOW?

The vital Sierra Nevada snowpack, which normally supplies about 30% of California water when it melts, has rebounded somewhat from a slow start.

In addition, forecasts indicate that more storms are building over the Pacific Ocean. If they materialize, the snowpack will get an additional boost.

The snowpack’s water content Wednesday was 86% of normal amounts to date and 69% of the April 1 average, when it is normally at its peak, according to the state Department of Water Resources.

On Jan. 30, the water content was just 52% of the average for that date — a far cry from a year earlier when it was around 200% of its average content, thanks to repeated atmospheric rivers that dramatically ended California’s driest three-year period on record.

HAS ALL THIS RAIN HELPED?

Downtown Los Angeles has received nearly 17.8 inches of rain, already more than an entire year’s worth of annual precipitation, which is measured from Oct. 1 to Sept. 30 of the following year. This is now the fourth-wettest February in downtown since since weather records began in 1877, according to the National Weather Service.

But while rainfall has reached historic levels in Southern California, it remains to be seen if the year will be regarded as very wet for the state overall.

Northern California is only just approaching its annual average, with about a month and a half to go for the wet season, which “makes it very hard to get ‘extremely wet,’ ” said Jay R. Lund, vice-director of the Center for Watershed Sciences at the University of California, Davis.

“We’re already wet enough that it’s not going to be a deep drought year, and the really wet years, they are already much wetter than this,” Lund said.

WERE RESERVOIRS REPLENISHED?

Even with the laggard start to the current rainy season, water storage in California’s major reservoirs has been well above average thanks to runoff from last year’s historic snowpack.

Some reservoirs have been releasing water into rivers to make room for incoming storm runoff and maintain flood control protection for downstream areas.

The Department of Water Resources announced Wednesday that the State Water Project is forecasting that public water agencies serving 27 million people will receive 15% of requested supplies, up from December’s initial 10% allocation.

The department said that the assessment doesn’t include the impact of storms this month, and the allocation could be further revised in mid-March.

Lake Oroville, the State Water Project’s largest reservoir, was at 134% of its average amount to date, but the department noted that the Northern California headwaters of the State Water Project saw below-average precipitation from storms over the past two months.

Contractors of the Central Valley Project, a federally run system that supplies major farming districts, will also receive 15% of their requested water supplies, federal authorities said Wednesday. That could change with more storms.

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

Over 2,500 Central Unified Students Receive Spirit Sweaters at 20th Annual ‘Warm for Winter’

DON'T MISS

Fresno Police Arrest Gang Members in Shooting Involving 7-Month-Old

DON'T MISS

Fresno Team Makes Low-Budget Horror Flicks Look Like Multi-Million-Dollar Productions

DON'T MISS

4B Movement: After the Election, a Call for Women to Swear Off Men

DON'T MISS

Homeowners’ Effort to Leave Sierra Unified Ends With County Ed Rejection

DON'T MISS

Will Terance Frazier’s Nonprofit Exit Granite Park or Fight?

DON'T MISS

Fresno Crash Sends Pickup Into Tree, Dark Tint Cited as Cause

DON'T MISS

November Has Scattered Cool Temps, Rain Showers for Fresno

DON'T MISS

Beyoncé Makes Grammy History With ‘Cowboy Carter,’ Leading 2025 Nominations

DON'T MISS

Macklin Celebrini, NHL’s Youngest Player, Scores on Marc-Andre Fleury, League’s Oldest

UP NEXT

Fresno Police Arrest Gang Members in Shooting Involving 7-Month-Old

UP NEXT

Fresno Team Makes Low-Budget Horror Flicks Look Like Multi-Million-Dollar Productions

UP NEXT

4B Movement: After the Election, a Call for Women to Swear Off Men

UP NEXT

Homeowners’ Effort to Leave Sierra Unified Ends With County Ed Rejection

UP NEXT

Fresno Crash Sends Pickup Into Tree, Dark Tint Cited as Cause

UP NEXT

November Has Scattered Cool Temps, Rain Showers for Fresno

UP NEXT

Beyoncé Makes Grammy History With ‘Cowboy Carter,’ Leading 2025 Nominations

UP NEXT

Macklin Celebrini, NHL’s Youngest Player, Scores on Marc-Andre Fleury, League’s Oldest

UP NEXT

Ramsey, Beckham Return to SoFi Stadium When the Struggling Dolphins Visit the Streaking Rams

UP NEXT

San Francisco’s First Black Female Mayor Concedes to Levi Strauss Heir

4B Movement: After the Election, a Call for Women to Swear Off Men

3 hours ago

Homeowners’ Effort to Leave Sierra Unified Ends With County Ed Rejection

3 hours ago

Will Terance Frazier’s Nonprofit Exit Granite Park or Fight?

4 hours ago

Fresno Crash Sends Pickup Into Tree, Dark Tint Cited as Cause

5 hours ago

November Has Scattered Cool Temps, Rain Showers for Fresno

5 hours ago

Beyoncé Makes Grammy History With ‘Cowboy Carter,’ Leading 2025 Nominations

6 hours ago

Macklin Celebrini, NHL’s Youngest Player, Scores on Marc-Andre Fleury, League’s Oldest

6 hours ago

Ramsey, Beckham Return to SoFi Stadium When the Struggling Dolphins Visit the Streaking Rams

6 hours ago

San Francisco’s First Black Female Mayor Concedes to Levi Strauss Heir

7 hours ago

FBI Thwarts Iranian Murder-for-Hire Plan Targeting Donald Trump

7 hours ago

Over 2,500 Central Unified Students Receive Spirit Sweaters at 20th Annual ‘Warm for Winter’

The Foundation for Central Schools hosted its 20th annual Warm for Winter event on Friday at Houghton-Kearney K-8 School. They provided over...

27 mins ago

The Foundation for Central Schools' 20th annual Warm for Winter event provided over 2,500 Central Unified students with spirit sweaters, thanks to community partnerships and generous donors. (Central Foundation)
27 mins ago

Over 2,500 Central Unified Students Receive Spirit Sweaters at 20th Annual ‘Warm for Winter’

1 hour ago

Fresno Police Arrest Gang Members in Shooting Involving 7-Month-Old

2 hours ago

Fresno Team Makes Low-Budget Horror Flicks Look Like Multi-Million-Dollar Productions

Following the results of Tuesday's election, Jada Mevs, a 25-year-old from Washington, D.C., is urging women to take action by signing up for self-defense classes, deleting dating apps, getting on birth control, and investing in vibrators, as part of a growing response to the election of Donald Trump for a second term and the failure of abortion rights referendums. (Shutterstock)
3 hours ago

4B Movement: After the Election, a Call for Women to Swear Off Men

3 hours ago

Homeowners’ Effort to Leave Sierra Unified Ends With County Ed Rejection

4 hours ago

Will Terance Frazier’s Nonprofit Exit Granite Park or Fight?

5 hours ago

Fresno Crash Sends Pickup Into Tree, Dark Tint Cited as Cause

5 hours ago

November Has Scattered Cool Temps, Rain Showers for Fresno

Search

Send this to a friend