Wednesday April 2, 2025
Monterey Herald —
In a much-needed break after multiple years of severe droughts over the past two decades, California’s statewide Sierra Nevada snowpack, which provides nearly one-third of the state’s water supply, was at 96% of its historical average on Tuesday, up from 83% a month before.
The April 1 reading, considered the most important of the year by water managers because it comes at the end of the winter season, follows two previous bountiful years when the snowpack reached 111% of normal last year on April 1 and 237% in 2023.
Although Tuesday fell just short of a third year in a row above 100%, together the past three years represent most bountiful three-year period for the Sierra snowpack in 25 years. The last time there was this much snow three years in a row came in 1998, 1999 and 2000.
“Gosh, what a relief,” said Jay Lund, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at UC Davis. “We’re in good shape. This is one of the better years in recent decades. We’ve had quite a lot of good precipitation this winter, especially in Northern California. And we haven’t had any major flooding. It’s been a near-Goldilocks amount. Just right.”