Snow levels in the Sierra Nevada are at or below what they were during the driest years in California’s recorded history, surveyors said Tuesday, dashing hopes that last weekend’s storm would begin to pull the state out of its increasingly frightful drought.
The water content of the snow statewide stands at 19 percent of the average for this time of year, according to the third snow survey of the season by the California Department of Water Resources.
That means California is neck and neck with 1977 and 1991 for the most parched winter since 1950, when the state began publishing measurements of the snowpack in the Sierra. California could set a new drought benchmark this year.
“We’re looking at historical lows,” said David Rizzardo, the chief of snow surveys and water supply forecasting for the Department of Water Resources. “You go into the winter hoping that (the drought) doesn’t get worse, but I think it’s undeniable at this point that it’s going to be worse. You just can’t recover at some point from how dry it has been.”
Comparison with 1977, 1991
The worst snow year by most measures was 1991, which had 18 percent of the historic average for snowpack on March 1. That, however, was the year of the famous Miracle March, when a series of subsequent storms covered the mountains with snow and brought California back from the brink.
In 1977, which is considered the driest year on record, the snow level was 25 percent of normal at this time. Last year, California was at 31 percent of normal on March 1.
S.F. Chron