Friday Top of the Scroll: California snow defies warming trend in U.S. Experts say the ‘lost winter’ carries a warning
In January, the Sierra Nevada snowfall outlook was bleak. California’s snowpack sat at levels less than half of normal, and more sand than snow lined the shores of Lake Tahoe. Across the West, experts voiced concern about snow drought. But, in California, prospects turned around the following month as a steady stream of storms added to the snowpack, culminating in an epic blizzard. Things played out quite differently in other parts of the country — large swaths of the U.S., including the Midwest, lack healthy snow levels. … In the future, snowy winters producing well above-normal snowpack like last year may still occur, but “those kinds of winters are going to become less common in a warming world,” said Brian Brettschneider, a climate scientist at the National Weather Service Alaska Region.
Related articles:
- Capital Public Radio: California’s Snowpack 100% of Historical Average
- Fox 40 – Sacramento: Folsom and other reservoir storage levels remain above yearly averages
- Desert Research Institute: Climate engine launches new website to facilitate drought and vegetation monitoring
- Riverbank News: Funds secured for aerial snowpack observation program
- USA Today: Winter flooding shows climate change effects on both US coasts
- KQED – San Francisco: Can California’s climate bond weather the storm of state deficits?