California Sierra snowpack approaching 40 year record highs

[BoomerD]

I heard it said, "if you're not a head you're behind."

"If you can remember the 60's...you weren't really there."

 

[Brovane]

Looks like the spillway at Oroville is working well. Oroville Spillway March 17, 2023.

 

[Muse]

Not over yet, another "atmospheric river" is due here in the Bay Area Tuesday, i.e. in two days. Will it be the last? I wondered that after the last two atmospheric rivers. Seems like there have been a dozen this year. Most years it's averaged maybe one over the last decade. It's been a strange winter. Spring officially begins tomorrow... hmm.

 

[Muse]

According to U.C. Berkeley, the latest measurements put the current snowpack 1 inch short of being the 2nd snowiest winter on record. The current record was set in 1982 - 1983.

 

[woolfe9998]

Dammit, after days of calm we have the worst storm yet on the the day I’m flying to Vegas. Wind is so strong the trees are bent horizontal. When will this end?

 

[Amused]

In Mammoth Lakes

 

[brycejones]

Dammit, after days of calm we have the worst storm yet on the the day I’m flying to Vegas. Wind is so strong the trees are bent horizontal. When will this end?

In however many centuries it takes humanity to stop fucking the planet and fix what we have done.

 

[Zor Prime]

It can stop already. I've got a date with a cabin in Shaver Lake and a cooler full of Guinness.

 

[nakedfrog]

Not over yet, another "atmospheric river" is due here in the Bay Area Tuesday, i.e. in two days. Will it be the last? I wondered that after the last two atmospheric rivers. Seems like there have been a dozen this year. Most years it's averaged maybe one over the last decade. It's been a strange winter. Spring officially begins tomorrow... hmm.

Meanwhile up here in the PNW it's been a pretty dry winter.

 

[Muse]

Not over yet, another "atmospheric river" is due here in the Bay Area Tuesday, i.e. in two days. Will it be the last? I wondered that after the last two atmospheric rivers. Seems like there have been a dozen this year. Most years it's averaged maybe one over the last decade. It's been a strange winter. Spring officially begins tomorrow... hmm.

Turned out the atmospheric river did not hit here, it went south and hit southern California yesterday. However, what did hit us was the center of the storm and unexpectedly it stalled right over us and had a confluence of vortexes that squeezed out a lot of moisture and near hurricane force winds... gusts over 80mph at times. The net effect, at least for me, was an event every bit as intense as the average atmospheric river. Tree limbs dropped around my property, I was pumping water out of the lake that inevitably forms on the west side of my house during intense rain storms... for ~8 hours. No snow, though. Of course, it NEVER snows here (unless in the coldest storm I drive up into the hills, but I never bother).

 

[BoomerD]

Meanwhile up here in the PNW it's been a pretty dry winter.

Lol...not here.

 

[Zorba]

Meanwhile up here in the PNW it's been a pretty dry winter.

Per Snotel, Washington is just slightly below normal.

 

[nakedfrog]

Lol...not here.

Last year January & February here had a combined precipitation total of 16.51", this year it was 7". Could be wetter over there, I know we have a lot of microclimates, but it's also been the driest winter in Seattle for 22 years.

 

[nakedfrog]

Per Snotel, Washington is just slightly below normal.

View attachment 78526

I don't know what Snotel is, but I do live here and I've personally observed it being much drier, and there's this: https://seattleweatherblog.com/rain-stats/rainfall-2023/
The data I provided in my post is from another different weather tracking source.

 

[Zorba]

I don't know what Snotel is, but I do live here and I've personally observed it being much drier, and there's this: https://seattleweatherblog.com/rain-stats/rainfall-2023/
The data I provided in my post is from another different weather tracking source.

Snotel measures the water content in the snowpack. https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/wcc/home/quicklinks/imap

So it doesn't actually capture rain totals at lower altitudes.

 

[nakedfrog]

Snotel measures the water content in the snowpack. https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/wcc/home/quicklinks/imap

So it doesn't actually capture rain totals at lower altitudes.

Our low temps have been lower too, so I expect it could be what moisture there was ended up as snowpack. The licorice ferns are all tiny and sad this year, some of the tinier creeks only just started having water flow again in the last few weeks. Boomer practically lives in the ocean though, I'm a ways further inland.

 

[nakedfrog]

Just encountered this related meme.

 

[hal2kilo]

Lol...not here.

I can imagine, being on the coast.

 

[Muse]

So, Tuesday we were supposed to dodge the atmospheric river hitting California. That went south, hit L.A. etc. Unheard of, a tornado hit the Los Angeles region:

https://twitter.com/search?q=tornado+los+angeles&ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Esearch

 

[Muse]

Instead of what was anticipated in the Bay Area Tuesday we experienced a rare bomb cyclone. It was as drastic as any of the many atmospheric rivers to hit the region this year. 200,000 without power, downed trees all over the region, actually killing 5 people!

A dramatic drop in atmospheric pressure triggered the so-called bomb cyclone that swept in from the Pacific Ocean and clobbered the San Francisco area. The storm packed heavy rain and wind gusts of up to 90 mph that knocked down trees, blocking major roadways and highways, officials said.

bomb cyclone bay area - Google Suche

5 killed, train derailed as 'bomb cyclone' hits California

Five people were killed when trees fell on their cars in the Bay Area.

abcnews.go.com

From a flying couch to crushed cars, videos show strength of deadly San Francisco Bay Area storm

A flying couch, crushed cars and high surf. That's just a part of the chaos Tuesday's deadly storm caused across the Bay Area. Here's a look at just how powerful the system was.

abc7news.com

 

[Muse]

Weather forecast is for 4 days without storms beginning today, the first such stretch in 2 months IIRC. The last two Tuesdays have had major storms here and next Tuesday it is anticipated another major storm will hit here. It's nuts! Tuesdays are dynamite. The amazing fact is I have not personally experienced a power outage at my house this entire 2022-2023 stormy season! I did go to the library yesterday with a couple books that were due yesterday but they were closed - THEIR POWER WAS OUT! The book drop was taped over too...

 

[Zorba]

Looks like Tulare Lake is filling back up.

Tulare Lake Was Drained Off the Map. Nature Would Like a Word. (Published 2023)

A barrage of storms has resurrected what was once the largest body of fresh water west of the Mississippi River, setting the stage for a disaster this spring.

www.nytimes.com

 

[Muse]

Looks like Tulare Lake is filling back up.

Tulare Lake Was Drained Off the Map. Nature Would Like a Word. (Published 2023)

A barrage of storms has resurrected what was once the largest body of fresh water west of the Mississippi River, setting the stage for a disaster this spring.

www.nytimes.com

Humongous California flooding catastrophe looks to be inevitable when the 3x average snowpack thaws. May appears to be a likely time.