LAKE TAHOE, Calif. (KRON) — A snowy April storm dusted Northern California’s Sierra Nevada mountains with two feet of fresh powder within the past two days.
On Friday morning, UC Berkeley Central Sierra Snow Lab reported 24 inches of snow falling within the past 48 hours. The lab’s seven-day snow total recorded 31.9 inches.
“We’re getting a bit of an abundant April! Plenty more on the way with another 8-16″ (20-40 cm) of snow expected over the next 36 hours!” UC Berkeley Central Sierra Snow Lab wrote on Twitter.
April’s snowy weather is a big contrast to the majority of 2022’s winter.
A dry spell in January and February caused California’s snowpack to drop to less than half of average, according to the California Department of Water Resources.
The snowpack continued plummeting in recent weeks as unseasonably warm temperatures hit the Sierra.
The beginning of April is typically when the snowpack is at its highest.
“(April 1) usually marks the typical peak of the state’s snowpack, this year’s snowpack likely peaked in mid-January in the Northern Sierra,” said Sean de Guzman, manager of DWR’s Snow Surveys and Water Supply Forecasting Unit.
“Most of the snow accumulation this year came from just two storms in December that were followed by the driest January and February on record in the Sierra,” Guzman said.
California’s Northern, Central, and Southern Sierra snowpacks account for roughly 30% of the state’s water supply.
