Here’s where California’s snowpack stands with winter half over
California has received barely half of the snow it typically gets by this point in winter, reinforcing concerns of a “snow drought” as state water officials conduct the second snow survey of the season this week. State surveyors will report about 50% of average snowpack across California’s high country on Tuesday, with winter moving into its second half and the clock on cold, powder-producing storms beginning to run down. Snow in the Sierra Nevada, southern Cascades and Trinity Mountains is vital for California, providing nearly a third of the state’s water. Below-average snowpack bodes poorly not just for municipal and agricultural water supplies but for forest health and wildfire danger.
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