California’s Department of Water Resources said Thursday its latest survey shows the Sierra Nevada snowpack is still well below normal — which is bad news for the drought-stricken state.<\/p>\n
The survey was done as the first of two back-to-back Pacific storms lightly blanketed the Sierra with fresh snow.<\/p>\n
The department said manual and electronic readings show the snowpack’s statewide water content at 24 percent of average for the date.<\/p>\n
“It’s just a reflection of the fact that what storms do come through are fairly modest,” snow survey chief Frank Gehrke said. “And then the blocking high-pressure ridge sets back in almost as soon as they’ve left the state.”<\/p>\n
The northern and central Sierra snowpack provides about a third of California’s water supply.<\/p>\n
More snow is expected from the week’s second and more powerful storm, which is expected to arrive late Thursday and last into Saturday.<\/p>\n
Gehrke said such storms are still far from enough to end the drought.<\/p>\n
“We’d need 15 or 20 of them — and that’s just not in the cards,” he said.<\/p>\n
Rainwater streamed across the parking lot and down the boat ramp at Folsom Lake on Thursday afternoon.<\/p>\n
The lake level has risen by more than 6 inches in the past 48 hours, but the reservoir remains about 70 percent empty.<\/p>\n
More at KCRA.com<\/a> >>><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" California’s Department of Water Resources said Thursday its latest survey shows the Sierra Nevada snowpack is still well below normal — which is bad news for the drought-stricken state. The survey was done as the first of two back-to-back Pacific storms lightly blanketed the Sierra with fresh snow. The department said manual and electronic readings … Continue reading California Snowpack Still Well Below Normal<\/span>