What is a ‘snow drought’ and why is California still facing one?
Southern California’s winter has so far been warm and wet, and hasn’t produced the snow you’d expect.
You may have seen the term “snow drought” boopin’ about.
Well, here’s what that is.
We’re in the grips of a warm winter — a cocktail of El Niño mixed with warming due to burning of fossil fuels — and that’s bringing more rain and less snow.
Even after seeing our third “thousand-year” storm of the winter, average snowpack is below average for this late in the season: We’re only at 75% of the average after this last storm.
California receives some 30% of its water supply from the Sierra Nevada and relies on the gradual flow of snowmelt in the spring and summer to fill our reservoirs.
That’s bound to get less reliable, with projections that the last half of this century could see average snow lines creep up some 1,300 to 1,600 feet.
It’s yet another reason why Southern California will need to adapt its management of floodwater. It’s also a glimpse at what wet years in a warm world might look like.
But on the bright side, reservoir storage statewide is still above average after last year’s record snow, and there are still a few months before peak accumulation around April 1.
I, for one, have never seen snow, so I don’t know what I’m missing. But I’m sure I’ll miss it when it’s gone.
Well, here’s what that is.
We’re in the grips of a warm winter — a cocktail of El Niño mixed with warming due to burning of fossil fuels — and that’s bringing more rain and less snow.
Even after seeing our third “thousand-year” storm of the winter, average snowpack is below average for this late in the season: We’re only at 75% of the average after this last storm.
California receives some 30% of its water supply from the Sierra Nevada and relies on the gradual flow of snowmelt in the spring and summer to fill our reservoirs.
That’s bound to get less reliable, with projections that the last half of this century could see average snow lines creep up some 1,300 to 1,600 feet.
It’s yet another reason why Southern California will need to adapt its management of floodwater. It’s also a glimpse at what wet years in a warm world might look like.
But on the bright side, reservoir storage statewide is still above average after last year’s record snow, and there are still a few months before peak accumulation around April 1.
I, for one, have never seen snow, so I don’t know what I’m missing. But I’m sure I’ll miss it when it’s gone.
