LADWP’s First Snow Surveys of 2024 Confirm Recent Winter Storms Boost Snowpack
LADWP’s First Snow Surveys of 2024 Confirm Recent Winter Storms Boost Snowpack
Our hydrographers set out into the cold from January 25 to February 3 to conduct the first LADWP snow surveys and measurements of the year, bringing back the news that the atmospheric river (as of February 6) brought one-fourth of an average year’s snowfall in less than a week of storms! The precipitation from the February 4 storm is on trend with the highest day totals from the January and March storms of 2023.
As of February 13, 2024
LADWP Eastern Sierra Current Precipitation Conditions reported:
• 12.1” of water content
• 71% of normal to date
•54% normal of a typical water year ending April 1
Snow surveying, or the measuring of snow depths to determine spring and summer water runoff, began in California’s Sierra Nevada mountain range in 1906 with the work of Dr. James Church of the University of Nevada at Reno. LADWP hydrographers use this method still today to measure snow depths at four Eastern Sierra basins, placing markers at specific locations and returning regularly to gauge snow amounts and water content in the snow.
Continuing monthly through April 1st, LADWP’s snow surveys and Mono Lake staff gauge measurements will show how the February storms and historically unpredictable March precipitation nicknamed “Miracle March” will affect spring and summer water runoff and water supply projections for the Los Angeles Aqueduct.
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