Sierra Snowpack Could Be Gone In 25 Years

[SSSdave]

The Central Sierra Snow Lab operated by UC Berkeley established in 1946, is the Sierra Nevada's most thorough weather station dedicated to snow science. Today December 27, 2021 it has been announced at 194 inches of snow (16+ feet), this is the snowiest December ever. And given snow today and tomorrow is sure to go well over 200 inches before New Years. So indeed, these two storm series have delivered the greatest December snows in the Central Sierra of our lifetimes.

Not only will we snow sport enthusiasts probably enjoy the best January skiing in years, but our late spring and summer backpacking season is looking to seesaw back again like 2017 and 2019. This won't fully fill up our depleted reservoirs to average levels but we are getting close. In any case as members have noted, the erratic nature of recent decade rainy seasons is a fair indication global warming has already permanently changed our California climate. In fact, we could go into another very dry period at any time this winter. Additionally down here at low coastal elevations hillsides have become very green that makes the likelihood of an exceptional wildflower season more likely including the big areas in our southern arid regions.

Fascinating live streaming webcam from Tahoe City's main street at north Tahoe showing heavy snow falling:

https://tahoetopia.com/webcam/tahoe-citydowntown-webcam

[dave54]

No one is complaining too hard about the snow this month. We certainly needed it.

Next Spring could be interesting in the burned areas. Reduced ground cover means the runoff will be high. The severely burned areas on slopes will have slides. OTOH the groundwater will recharge better with reduced vegetative cover and springs/streams may flow longer.

[erutan]

Reservoirs are at 36% capacity and 54% of historical average.

Most of NorCal had either a record driest or second record driest January and average snowpack levels for the High Sierra are 80-90% and dropping. January and February are generally the wettest months - we'd need both a wet very cold spring to recover, but it's converging on last years winter in central and northern California. Things are obviously erratic, but I highly doubt we'll see a summer like '17 or '19.

On a non-quantitative note, we can blame Kim Stanley Robinson for using the remaining glaciers to chill his Scotch heh:

This coming summer he will publish “The High Sierra: A Love Story” [...] ‘It was the smallest living glacier that you could possibly imagine,’ Robinson told me. He broke off a tiny chunk and carried it back to camp for the hikers to use in their Scotch. ‘It was like a goodbye,’ he said. ‘Like going to a hospice visit.’

There's a certain bittersweetness to the high country - I've thought of being in the backcountry like holding a friend's hand as you watch them die for a while now. Interesting to see that thought echoed elsewhere.