California Hits Record Snowpack Depth in Southern Sierra Nevada

The total snowpack this winter for California’s southern Sierra Nevada mountain range has hit 286% of normal — the highest since records began.

The Los Angeles Times noted:

As of Friday, the snowpack in the southern Sierra Nevada was at 286% of normal — the highest figure ever, easily eclipsing the region’s benchmark of 263% set in 1969.

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Statewide, the snowpack is at 228% of normal, hovering near the record level set in the April 1 survey of 1952, 237% of average. The level during the annual April 1 snow survey in 1983 was 227%.

According to the University of California Berkeley Central Sierra Snow Lab, the 2022-2023 has been the second-snowiest on record — and it could surpass the record mark set in 1952, with more snow on the way in an upcoming “atmospheric river” that will be the season’s 13th.

The San Francisco Chronicle reports on a windy, snowy weather system that is developing over the Pacific:

Two low-pressure systems off the coast of Hawaii and Alaska will quickly merge into a storm around Sunday, heading toward the West Coast by Monday morning. Weather models forecast that it will then tap into the atmospheric moisture between Hawaii and California — a.k.a. the Pineapple Express — and undergo rapid intensification. The stage is set for another strong March storm that’s expected to bring powerful winds, rounds of heavy rain and thunderstorms to the Bay Area.

That rain will hit the Sierra Nevada as snow — adding to massive totals at ski resorts, building up the state’s water supply — but also creating a risk of spring flooding.

For now, there is joy throughout the state as Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) increased water allocations to local water agencies to 75% of those requested — a sharp increase from the 5% he announced at the start of the winter.

Back then, weather forecasters were predicting a third straight dry winter, as La Niña patterns remained in force, and the state was stuck in a crippling drought. But an early November storm was followed by heavy rains from Christmas into the New Year — and the storms have barely let up since.

Newsom raised the allocation to 35%, and now to 75%, amid criticism that he has not expanded the state’s ability to store water in reservoirs.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the new biography, Rhoda: ‘Comrade Kadalie, You Are Out of Order’. He is also the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.