Snowpack Feast or Famine

The satellite images show what a difference a year makes. In 2022 (left) the snowpack was under 60% of average for the third straight winter. On May 1, 2023 (right) it was 254% of average.

Twelve months ago, California was entering year three of an extended drought. On the heels of the driest January-April period in 128 years, the state’s two largest reservoirs were down to critically low levels, and a skimpy snowpack meant little additional water was on the way...

This year has been a complete turnaround.

Storms drenched California for months and piled on epic amounts of snow in the Sierra Nevada. The state’s May 1 snowpack clocked in at 254% of average for the date.

California regularly sees variability in Sierra snow from season to season, or a “snowpack whiplash.”

Dry winters have been the norm over the last two decades, but snowpacks above 150% have appeared four times, including this year (graph).

There appears to be little that California can do to reduce the variability of winter storms, but it's obvious that investing in water storage, including underground aquifers, can mitigate the worst effects of drought years. $7.5 billion was approved by the voters in 2014, but nothing has been built, truly an outstanding example of incompetence and unseriousness.