Sierra Snowpack At Near Twice-Average
Sonora, CA – Following the holiday weekend’s late-season storms, the snowpack is reading nearly twice the average for this time of year.
Tuesday, as billowing clouds began yielding to show more blue-sky patches, the statewide average of 19 inches in snow-water equivalent (SWEQ) is 195 percent of normal for the date and that it is at 70 percent of that reported on April 1 as the statewide average, which was 162 percent of average, as reported here.
The North Sierra (Trinity through Feather & Truckee) at 16 inches SWEQ is at 203 percent of normal for the date. The Central Sierra (Yuba & Tahoe through Merced & Walker), at 22 inches SWEQ is also measuring at 203 percent of normal. The South Sierra (San Joaquin & Mono through Kern) is measuring 18 inches SWEQ, which is 173 percent normal.
New Melones, now at 85 percent of its total capacity, is at 134 percent of its historic average for this time of year. Don Pedro, at 90 percent of its cap is at 119 percent of its average.
Up north, Lake Shasta is nearly brimming at 98 percent of its total capacity and 114 percent of its average for the date. Oroville, Trinity and Folsom, which are all between 95 and 97 percent of their caps are reading between 113 and 116 percent of their averages for this time of year.
