Skiers visiting Squaw Valley in the Tahoe area are being treated to over 5 feet of new snow this week after a multi-day series of wet storms pounded this part of the Sierra(see photo). Nearby Kirkwood was said to get 6.8 feet of snow, NBC reported.
Around California the rain cheered residents desperate for moisture after months of waiting for winter weather to start. In Redding on Sunday the city recorded 0.82 in of rain breaking a record with twice as much falling as it did for all of January.
Bay Area communities reported as high as 10 inches of rain from the storms that were a result of an Atmospheric River, a Pineapple Express of moisture that flowed into the state up to today – likened to a fire hose effect with Tahoe as the bulls eye.
In Central California rain totals were less impressive but still widespread and significant. Yosemite Visitors Center recorded 2.76 inches says NWS. Case Mountain above Three Rivers got 1.85 in and Ash Mountain got 0.50. Lodgepole recorded 0.22 in of water. On the Tule – Peppermint Mountain received 1.32 in. Hanford got just 0.06 while Visalia saw 0.11.
On the snow front China Peak reports 15 inches of snow in the past week.
The Central Coast saw multiple days of sprinkles with hard hit Cambria with water restrictions in place getting a good dose – 2.25 inches of rain since Feb 2 – 9 Los Osos added nearly 1.5 inches to just 0.6 in for the water year up to then.
Regards state reservoirs – they got bigger with Oroville climbing 7 feet in the last week. The state says we have just climbed above the 1976/77 average for this time of the year, still very dry forecast but not as bad as a week ago.
The statewide snowpack water content is now estimated to be about 28% of normal for the date, up from 12% on Jan. 30.
Though the precipitation is clearly welcome, the Department of Water Resources says it would take rain and snowfall of near record-breaking proportions through the rest of the winter to bring California to average statewide precipitation for the season.
If California has been experiencing a drought the snowpack that feeds the all important Colorado River looking pretty good with the basin snowpack at 112% of average as of Feb 10 according to the Bureau of Reclamation.