We accumulated 3.5" (9 cm) of #snow over the last 24 hours and it is expected to continue over the next couple days.
We've talked about snowfall totals and this year's move to second place, which is fantastic, but what about the water content of our snowpack? 🧵
#CAwx #CAwater
We've talked about snowfall totals and this year's move to second place, which is fantastic, but what about the water content of our snowpack? 🧵
#CAwx #CAwater
Above is a plot of Snow Water Equivalent (SWE; the amount of water that can come from melting the snowpack) from the @USDA_NRCS SNOTEL site at the Snow Lab. We can see that 2022/2023 currently has the highest SWE of any year back to 1984 for this date (69"; 175 cm). 🧵
However, 2010/2011 has the record for the greatest maximum SWE overall at 72.3" (184 cm). At the CSSL, our peak SWE generally occurs on March 24th and that is rapidly approaching. Given the short-term forecast, it's possible that we may fall behind 2010/2011 again. 🧵
The 7-10 day forecast with 2" (5 cm) to 3.5" (9 cm) of precipitation predicted provides more hope that this could be the most water we've had in our snowpack at the lab in 39 years, although it's not a guarantee. A lot will also depend on the timing of melt and when that begins.
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