![]() However, this winter season has been extraordinarily wet in the city of angels. When you think of Los Angeles, rain isn't the first type of weather that comes to mind. However, while the state's drought situation is greatly improved, much of the West still faces a long-term water crisis as experts warn demand for water will keep outpacing the supply of it.ĭEFINITIONS: Is climate change the same thing as global warming? Definitions explained.ĬLIMATE CHANGE CAUSES: Why scientists say humans are to blame. “It has not ended the drought completely, but we’re in a very different place than we were a year ago.” “Clearly, the amount of water that’s fallen this year has greatly alleviated the drought,” said Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at the University of California, Los Angeles. Drought Monitor, as of March 23, only 36% of the state of California is in a drought, compared with the Jan. ![]() Does all this rain and snow end the drought in California?Ĭalifornia's recent rain and snow have helped pull nearly two-thirds of the state out of drought conditions. What is the US snowfall record?Īs incredible as these snowfall totals are, it's still a long way from the nation's all-time snowiest winter of 95 feet, which was set at the Mount Baker Ski Area in Washington state during the winter of 1997-98, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. One other fun fact from this winter: California transportation officials said earlier this month that they removed so much snow from the state's roadways in February that it would be enough to fill the Rose Bowl 100 times. The heavy snow set another record this week: As of Tuesday, the water content of the central Sierra snowpack was 234% of the April 1 average, a benchmark for its historical peak, according to the state's Department of Water Resources. The 57 feet amount has already shattered a nearly 40-year record held back in 1983. The normal full-season snowfall total there is about 30 feet. More than 57 feet of snow has fallen at the Central Sierra Snow Lab, a University of California, Berkeley field research station located at Donner Pass in California's Sierra Nevada mountains. PREVIOUSLY: 30 feet of snow? That much has fallen in some places in California as snow blankets huge swaths of state. On Wednesday, the Mammoth Mountain ski resort in the eastern Sierra announced that it had set an all-time record of 695 inches (nearly 58 feet) of snow for the season at the resort's main lodge. Due to melting, evaporation, and compacting, the actual snow depth at any given time was never that high.) (Keep in mind that the 58-foot-total is accumulated snowfall for the entire winter, not the snow depth. How do 58 feet stack up? Well, it's taller than the average height of three male giraffes stacked from head to toe, said meteorologist Chris Dolce. have seen as much as 58 feet of snow this winter, according to. Several ski resorts in California and the Western U.S. How much snow has fallen in the California mountains? In addition, the years 2020-22 were California's "driest three-year period on record, breaking the old record set by the previous drought from 2013 to 2015," according to a news release from WaterWorld magazine. So this year has already seen about twice as much precipitation as the entire water year of 2021-22. Last water year, for instance, ended with statewide precipitation at 76% of average, according to the California Department of Water Resources. How does it compare to the past few dry years?Ĭalifornia's wildly wet winter of 2022-23 is in stark contrast to how dry the state has been over the past few years. 1 to late March is supposed to be 52 trillion gallons of water (18.6 inches statewide). So more than 25 trillion gallons above average have fallen this year – or about 150% of the average. Maue said the statewide long-term average from Oct. How does California's winter compare to average? READ MORE: Latest climate change news from USA TODAY Is this the wettest winter California has ever had?Īt 27.6 inches so far, California still has quite a way to go to break the record for the wettest year on record: "The largest water year was 1982-1983, which totaled 42.81 inches," said California state climatologist Michael Anderson. How does climate change affect you?: Subscribe to the weekly Climate Point newsletter
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