Due to the arrival storm, the DWR conducted its third annual snow survey ahead of schedule, As light snow fell at the Phillips station in Soda Springs.
The manual survey recorded 47.5 inches of snow depth and a snow water equivalent of 18 inches, which is 77 percent of average to date for this location. Statewide, the snowpack is 80 percent of average for this date. The snowpack is 74 percent of the April 1st average for this location. The April 1st average is used as a metric because, in terms of snow water content, that’s typically when the snowpack is at its peak each year in the Sierra Nevada.
The survey revealed a promising surge as just a month ago, the outlook for the water year looked bleak, with those percentages just barely above the halfway mark. Recent storms have provided a significant boost to the snowpack throughout the state, yet pales in comparison to last year’s historic winter, where at this time, the snowpack was double today’s at nine and a half feet.
Officials say February’s warmer storms have meant that the snowpack is still falling short, adding that “The next month will be critical for determining how water supplies will look for the rest of the year”.
