Tuesday Top of the Scroll: Monster blizzard shatters California ‘snow drought’ with up to 10 feet of new snow
A monster blizzard that blasted California’s Sierra Nevada with gusts of up to 190 mph and dumped more than 10 feet of snow over the weekend shattered the state’s “snow drought” and significantly boosted vital snowpack levels. The statewide snowpack by Monday had swelled to 104% of normal for the date, with a snow water equivalent of 24.4 inches. On Thursday — hours before the chilly winter storm was set to hit — the snowpack had measured only 80% of normal. It was an impressive turnaround compared with the beginning of the year when the snowpack was 32% of normal. Officials were optimistic the blizzard would offer a significant snow boost. It ended up being a game-changer.
Related articles:
- Forbes: California could stave off drought through 2025—reversing years of ‘megadrought,’ forecasters say
- AccuWeather: California to stay drought-free through 2025 following 2 winters of epic storms, AccuWeather experts say
- Newsweek: California’s biggest reservoir loses 265 billion gallons of water
- San Francisco Chronicle: California snowpack surges after huge storm. Here’s how much
- Newsweek: These 3 California cities already received more than year’s worth of rain