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Science & Medicine

California’s shrinking snowpack

Darrell Carlis, 55, of Fresno hikes pat small patches of snow near the Panorama Trail. "We will conceivably see more years like this in the future," said geologist Jeffrey Mount, a senior fellow at the Public Policy Institute of California.

Darrell Carlis, 55, of Fresno hikes pat small patches of snow near the Panorama Trail. “We will conceivably see more years like this in the future,” said geologist Jeffrey Mount, a senior fellow at the Public Policy Institute of California.   (Brian Vander Brug / Los Angeles Times)

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As the climate warms in coming decades, scientists say, the state’s mountain snowpack could shrink by a third. By the end of the century, more than half of what functions as a huge natural reservoir could disappear.

Shrinking snowpack

Visitors to Yosemite’s Mariposa Grove walk on snow-free trails. A parched January is partly to blame. But the snowpack is also skimpy because warm storms that hit the state in December dumped copious amounts of rain, not snow.   (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

Shrinking snowpack

A sign at Glacier Point. Many of the trails in Yosemite National Park are snow-free, which is uncharacteristic for this time of year.   (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

Shrinking snowpack

On snow-free ground in Yosemite’s Mariposa Grove, Deland Grace, 34, jumps for a photo as friend Jois Balderian, 37, snaps the shutter. The two were visiting from Anaheim.  (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

Shrinking snowpack

Glacier Point at Yosemite National Park. The latest climate models suggest the overall amount of precipitation won’t change much and may even increase across much of California. Rather, more of it will fall as rain and less as snow, altering the timing of important mountain runoff.  (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

Shrinking snowpack

Visitors photograph the Grizzly Giant tree in Mariposa Grove at Yosemite National Park. There is usually some snow on the ground this time of year.  (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

Shrinking snowpack

There is little snow to be be seen in this view from Glacier Point in Yosemite National Park.   (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

Shrinking snowpack

Yosemite icons El Capitan, left, and Half Dome are not capped with their usual January mantle of white.   (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

Shrinking snowpack

Frank Gehrke of the state Department of Water Resources uses a hollow aluminum tube to measure the snowpack at Echo Summit. In a normal year, this location is usually covered in several feet of snow.   (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press)

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