Dry conditions in the news ....
Low snowpack may mean a third dry year for California
Brian Heiland, left, and Frank Gehrke, scientists in the
California Department of Water Resources, measure the snowpack
south of Lake Tahoe. Photo by: Jonah M. Kessel / Associated Press
from: Los Angeles Times
30 January 2009
(summary; please click above for full article)
The all-important Sierra Nevada snowpack remains well below normal,
signaling that California may be headed for a third consecutive dry year.
When state workers took the second snow measurement of the winter Thursday,
they found that statewide, the snow's water content was 61% of the average,
over many years, for this point in the season. The figure was even lower in
the northern Sierra, which feeds the state's biggest reservoirs.
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SNOTEL - Basin Average Snow Water Content - January 30, 2009
The SNOTEL river basin average snow water content
and precipitation data are updated
daily by the
Western Regional Climate Center.
Click here for most recent SNOTEL River Basin Precipitation
SNOTEL (SNOw TELemetry) data are from remote sites that use pressure
pillows for measuring snowfall.
Click here to learn more about SNOTEL
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Climate Tracker: South Coast region water year (Oct-Sep) precipitation
(Click here for full size image)
Plot of the climate tracker south coast region shows 7 of the last 10 years
significantly below normal water year precipitation. Find more plots on
the
Western Regional Climate Center's Climate Tracker web page.
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