After months of relatively dry weather in California, this winter’s biggest storm to date is set to deliver rain at lower elevations and feet of snow in the Sierra Nevada mountains. That’s good news for the precipitation-starved state, but will this storm be enough to mitigate the growing number of areas facing severe drought?
The National Weather Service reports that Los Angeles will see rain continuing into Saturday morning, with snow at elevations of 6,000 feet. Farther north, the forecast calls for up to seven feet of snow in Lake Tahoe and up to five feet along the Sierra Crest in Mammoth has skiers rejoicing and locals bracing for blizzard conditions.
Large amounts of snow and wind gusts up to 100 mph will make travel difficult across much of the state and will also raise the avalanche danger. The National Weather Service in Reno issued a blizzard that’s in effect this morning, advising people that “even a short walk could be deadly in these conditions.”
This week’s storm is a welcome break from the West’s abysmally dry winter that has revived concerns about water. Last winter, a record-breaking amount of snow lifted the state from a multi-year drought that caused Gov. Jerry Brown to declare a state of emergency.
At the end of January, Los Angeles had seen just 28 percent of its average precipitation since October, and the Bay Area is only at about 50 percent of average. The dry weather has been especially acute in the southern half of the state, and a lack of rain and high temperatures set the stage in early December for the largest fire in California history.
This winter’s lack of precipitation has plunged much of the state back into drought, with most of Southern California in moderate or severe drought and almost the entire state considered “abnormally dry.” Those assessments are made after considering the state’s precipitation totals, temperatures, moisture levels in soils, and water levels in streams and lakes. The recent lackluster numbers caused the Los Angeles Times to wonder whether Gov. Brown should have ever lifted the statewide water restrictions.
The big question remains: Is this upcoming storm—proclaimed to be the biggest of the winter so far—our last hope to potentially avoid more severe drought conditions this summer? Unfortunately, the answer is no.
While any moisture is better than no moisture, even a five- or seven-foot storm won’t be enough to return the Sierra Nevada—which is the source of about 30 percent of California’s water supply—to normal. A recent foot or two of snow was welcome news to snow-starved ski areas, but it only bumped up the snowpack by a few percentage points to 23 percent of average.
To put this in perspective, it takes about 10 inches of snow to deliver one inch of liquid water. To get to the average snowpack on March 1—which is about 25 inches of snow water equivalent—this week’s storm would need to drop over 16 feet of snow in the California mountains.
Of course, it’s rare for a single storm to end a drought. Last year, it took a successive number of large storms to make a difference in the snowpack and fill the state’s reservoirs. With forecasts of two to five feet of snow, the San Jose Mercury News reports that this week’s storm should take the snow pack from about 23 percent to about 40 percent of average. That’s better, but we’ll need several big storms in March to come close to ending the winter with an average snowpack.
Our advice: Start hoping for a March miracle.
Comments
I think several small, tasteful storms would be better than one, big, monster storm.
By ArchiSavant on 03.01.18 10:04am
Agreed. Something tasteful without being gaudy.
By Cleavon Little on 03.01.18 10:52am
First McMansions, now McStorms. There oughta be a law…
By disqusted on 03.01.18 11:31am
Such short memory spans. CA should be creating more reservoirs at a minimum.
By SEARDM on 03.01.18 4:06pm
What?????monster storm? only in southern California is a quarter inch of rain considered a storm.
By Young Fred on 03.01.18 8:51pm
they are referring to Mammoth and Sierra Nevada Mts, not SoCal
By Jason Haines on 03.02.18 2:11pm
StormWatch 2018… Prepare for hyperbole floods.
By TapElenac on 03.01.18 9:41pm
StormWatch 2018… Prepare for hyperbole floods.
By TapElenac on 03.01.18 9:41pm
12:10 pm, Friday: Storm FAIL! Where the Hell is all of this rain?!
By ImpatientMike! on 03.02.18 12:10pm
Be patient
By CaliSon on 03.02.18 1:26pm
Been raining all day here in Hollywood.
By disqusted on 03.02.18 3:28pm
As of March 29, the 21-mile long reservoir held 4.004 million acre-feet of water, well above the historical average of 3.668 million acre-feet (maf). The amount of water in Shasta Lake has tripled since December, and the lake level has risen 134 feet.
By Jason Haines on 03.02.18 2:17pm
This is probably the most honest depiction of public transit I have ever seen on Curbed. A man waiting in the rain at an uncovered bus stop so he can walk through frigid flowing water several inches deep to board a bus that is probably late and will drop him off no closer than a mile from his destination. Curbed should do much more to show honest depictions of public transit like this. Why not send Curbed editors out to stand around in the rain at uncovered flooded bus stops to interview and follow people who actually have jobs, to find out what it is like to have to commute like this every day?
By wuwowe on 03.02.18 3:53pm
This is maybe 1% of transit commute experiences in LA given how little it ever rains here. How about a series of endless pictures of people being stuck in traffic because they refuse to get out of their cars and walk, bike, or take transit. That would be a "realistic" picture of the typical LA car-humper experience.
By disqusted on 03.02.18 11:14pm
I’m sure you’re right about the 1% and the endless traffic, but an honest depiction of public transit from a few sources would be nice. Every once in a while I’ll drive my mother around town (who doesn’t drive) and she always comments how much faster it is by car compared to taking the bus. She also talks about those bus riders that talk too loud (she has tinnitus) on their phones, sneeze/cough without covering up, the ‘stinky’ and other rude riders. I’ve asked her to use Uber/Lyft but she doesn’t trust them because of the ‘scary’ stories she’s seen in the news. If taking a bus meant 15mns more in travel time I would consider it, more than that I consider a lower quality of life. I will say that I am looking into getting an electric bike, but those are not cheap and $2k could go a long way in gas.
By Ach Dav on 03.03.18 9:49pm
I know this isn’t relevant for mountain snowfall, but I remember last year’s rainy season (fall 2016, winter 2017). Seeing all of the water just flow down the streets uncaptured is a bummer. Reservoirs are one thing, but I wish we had better storm management in our cities.
By SC310 on 03.05.18 9:41am
We should be building dams and prisons — not Jerry Brown’s medium speed rail boondoggle.
By Liquid_Plumber on 03.22.18 9:53pm
I always flush before using the toilet.
The routine is generally:
1) Flush before use.
2) Wipe any splashes off before papering.
3) Use paper or seat cover if public.
4) Use paper to create a shield to keep the wang from touching the bowl in front if public.
5) Sit and defecate. Generally for each piece of feces I flush, I also flush out urine. Pretty much anything hits the water flush.
6) While waiting I tend to flush while idle to keep the pipes clean.
7) Wipe with 10-15 flushable wipes. Flush every 4-5 wipes. Keep flushable-wiping until all stains are gone from all angles (front back, back front, leg up, etc).
8) Flush at least one extra time as flushable wipes can sometimes clump up.
I also sometimes rig the toilet to continuously flush to clean it.
I also like to urinate into running water, so I tend to pee into sinks that have running water. This way I ensure the best flow characteristics.
I promise to waste water as much as I can because I have unmetered water. I promise. This is to force our stupid scum government who lets half of Mexico show up here on our dime to build new infrastructure rather than have me live Amish style because they are stupid morons who cant plan ahead. I leave the toilet rigged on, shower , a tub and 2 sinks on all the time to protest our stupid government.
Mick mickrussom Russom
By mickrrussom on 03.27.18 11:58am