4 ms·
If I'm reading the data correctly, there is no snowpack above Lake Oroville right now, so it's all about rain at this point. https://www.wcc.nrcs.usda.gov/snow
by sverige 10y ago
If I'm reading the data correctly, there is no snowpack above Lake Oroville right now, so it's all about rain at this point.
https://www.wcc.nrcs.usda.gov/snow/ https://www.wcc.nrcs.usda.gov/snow/
- kolbe 10y agoI'm having trouble pulling that map up, but I believe there's snowpack at 5500' and above right now, and there's a huge amount of land upstream of Lake Oroville that is above 5500'. My data is this: here's an Instagram tagged at Emigrant Gap (5200') taken four days ago. https://www.instagram.com/p/BQYzN3sA76u/ https://www.instagram.com/p/BQYzN3sA76u/
- mturmon 10y agoOroville itself is at 900 feet altitude, but the Oroville watershed extends into the Sierra Nevadas, including alpine valleys at 5000 feet. The Sierras have record snowpack this year (150 inches in places, so I hear). Approximate watershed is seen in the map at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feather_River https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feather_River
- stuckagain 10y agoI'm not sure where the snow is but it's not at 5000' in Plumas County this year. The ski and snowmobile club in La Porte is closed for lack of snow.
- deleted 10y ago[deleted]
- andys627 10y agoThere isn't any snow left below 5,000 feet. Source: I'm in Reno at 4,415 feet.
- rconti 10y agoOroville is both north and west of where you are. Significant rain shadowing occurs east of the Sierra. and I think the "5000ft high" watershed number for Oroville may be low.
- andys627 10y agoYep all true. There's probably not any snow below even _6,000 or 7,000ft_ in the Sierras right now because the last storm, which was warm/rainy, melted it. This is another reason why the next storm won't put as much water into the reservoir.
- shoyer 10y agoLooking at the map from the page you link to, I see significant amounts of snowpack at the stations above Lake Oroville: https://www.wcc.nrcs.usda.gov/webmap_beta/index.html#version=76&elements=&networks=!&states=!&counties=!&hucs=&minElevation=&maxElevation=&elementSelectType=all&activeOnly=true&activeForecastPointsOnly=false&hucLabels=false&hucParameterLabels=false&stationLabels=&overlays=&hucOverlays=&mode=data&openSections=dataElement,parameter,date,basin,elements,location,networks&controlsOpen=true&popup=FOR:CA:MSNT&base=esriNgwm&displayType=station&basinType=6&dataElement=WTEQ¶meter=PCTMED&frequency=DAILY&duration=I&customDuration=&dayPart=E&year=2017&month=2&day=14&monthPart=E&forecastPubMonth=2&forecastPubDay=1&forecastExceedance=50&seqColor=1&divColor=3&scaleType=D&scaleMin=&scaleMax=&referencePeriodType=POR&referenceBegin=1981&referenceEnd=2010&minimumYears=20&hucAssociations=true&lat=39.6279&lon=-120.8098&zoom=9 https://www.wcc.nrcs.usda.gov/webmap_beta/index.html#version... We see the same thing in NOAA's regional snow analysis maps: https://www.nohrsc.noaa.gov/nsa/?region=Sierras https://www.nohrsc.noaa.gov/nsa/?region=Sierras
- mturmon 10y agoThanks. This data seems to settle it - I'm seeing 20, 30, 40 inches at various sites within the watershed, at elevations from 5150 feet to 6800 feet.