Northern Sierra Snowpack 45% Above Normal

The Sierra Nevada snowpack is 45% greater than normal in California’s most important watershed, the State Department of Water Resources reported Thursday.

The monthly snow survey found snow depths 35% below normal south of Yosemite, because of La Nina weather patterns. But north of Lake Tahoe, in the area where the state gets two-thirds of its water supply, snow depths are 45% above historic averages, department spokesman Jeff Cohen said.

He said measurements averaged 10% above normal in the central Sierra region between Tahoe and Yosemite, which provides another 20% of the state’s water supply.

But some central Sierra measurements topped northern Sierra readings, particularly along U.S. 50 and the South Fork of the American River.

“This is our fifth year of wet weather. This is the first time we have had five consecutive above-average years since we started keeping records in the mid-19th century,” Cohen said.

The northern Sierra feeds both Shasta and Oroville reservoirs, which between them provide drinking water for 22 million Californians and irrigation water for 7 million acres of California farmland.