The snowpack in California's mountains is still below average for the 2023-2024 winter, but multiple atmospheric rivers have helped quite a bit.
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00:00 Snowfall and snowpack have been building significantly, and that's good news.
00:04 So UC Berkeley's Central Sierra Snow Lab, they are the experts on this.
00:08 They're always keeping an eye on the snowpack, and it's a research field station
00:12 that's one of the leading snow study sites in the world.
00:14 Andrew Schwartz is lead scientist there.
00:16 And Andrew, thanks so much for making time for us.
00:19 Well, thank you for having me on.
00:21 Well, we always love talking to you guys there at the Central Sierra Snow Lab.
00:25 So Andrew, after this week, how have these two atmospheric river events
00:30 impacted the snow levels there and the snow depth in California?
00:34 They've really helped us out quite a bit.
00:36 Here at the lab, we've seen a little over five feet, or around five feet of snow,
00:41 I should say, over the last week.
00:44 And across the state, we've seen very similar things.
00:46 And that's really helped to bring our snowpack water up from pretty low,
00:51 where it started the year, to a spot where we're much happier as we get closer to average.
00:57 Yeah, it's a healthy thing, especially after last year when we saw spectacular snowfall in these areas.
01:03 So what is the status of the snowpack now, if you were to compare that to average?
01:08 And also, what do you expect for the future of this when it eventually melts off
01:12 and enters the reservoirs into the spring and summer?
01:17 Well, we're at about 75 percent average, give or take a little bit.
01:21 It does look like we're going to see a drier period over the next seven to ten days,
01:24 as far as snow is concerned, so we're probably not going to be adding a whole ton to that.
01:28 You know, by comparison, this time last year, we were at over 160 percent.
01:33 So we could be in a better spot for sure, but given that we came up from about 25 to 28 percent
01:40 at the beginning of January, we're in a really favorable place.
01:43 And as that snow melts and goes downhill, of course it's going to enter our reservoirs,
01:48 many of which still have plenty of water in them from last year's enormous snowpack.
01:53 So even if we end up a little bit short, we should be able to recover from that.
01:57 That's very good news. And as we kind of look back at last year's record snowfall,
02:02 that got us out of the drought with several atmospheric river events.
02:06 So do you expect that we will also remain drought-free for this year and beyond?
02:12 Well, a lot's going to depend, of course, on once we get into late spring and into summer
02:17 and then even the fall. But as far as our snowpack and snowfall,
02:21 you know, at this point in time, it's looking favorable that we're at least going to keep up
02:25 with close to average so that we're not entering more drought.
02:29 That could change, you know, if we see a drying in conditions over the next couple months.
02:34 That would definitely be problematic because we might only end up at, you know,
02:38 50 percent of what we would expect for a maximum snowpack if that happens.
02:42 So at this point in time, you know, we're kind of keeping our fingers crossed
02:45 that the snow continues to come in and that we'll wind up out of drought as we were last year.
02:51 And it's good to be avoiding that, even despite the huge demand,
02:55 and because of that huge demand for water in California because of population.
02:59 Andrew Schwartz, thanks again there from the Central Sierra Snow Lab.
03:03 Thank you.
03:04 All right, Andrew, good talking to you.