For the first time in 25 years, California has a snow trifecta

The year may have started with a period of drought, but the end of the California storm season brought more fresh snow to Sierra Nevada, pushing the state’s snowpack at 96% of the average on April 1, when the snow season generally reaches its peak.

The almost Middle Snow Coat gave the State a third consecutive year of many water supplies in the mountains – something that has not happened for a quarter of a century.

“Earlier, there were indicators that we could have a dry year, but fortunately, the storm windows remained open and gave us a good boost in February and March to be where we are today,” said Andy Reishing, director of snow surveys and water supply forecasts for California Department of Water Resources.

This almost average winter followed an extremely humid and snowy 2023 and a wet 2024. This time last year, the snowpack was 111% of the average.

The domination of wet time has brought a suspended from the severe drought that the Californians endured from 2020 to 2022, the period of three most dry years of the ever -registered state.

The last time California had three consecutive years of average snow or higher than the average, from 1998 to 2000, said Reishing. At this point, it has been 20 years that a similar model has happened, from 1978 to 1980.

This year’s storms have brought numerous rains to lower altitudes, and state -of -scale precipitation since October 1 measure 103% of the average for this period of the year.

The last two wet years have also left California tanks in good condition. The main state reservoirs are now 117% of average levels.

The Metropolitan Water District, in southern California, which offers water for 19 million people in six counties, has a record amount of water in tanks and underground storage areas.

“The tanks are higher than average for this period of the year, and this is an excellent sign for this year in the future,” Reishing journalists told a briefing on Tuesday.

California’s snowpack generally provides almost a third of the state water supply.

The latest storms and the increase in the snowpack prompted state water managers last week to increase their forecasts for water deliveries this year from the aqueducts of the state project on the water, which transports supplies of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta to the south of California. The allowance was increased to 40% of the supplies requested, compared to 35% a month earlier.

The Trump administration also announced last week that it increased water allowances this year for the Central Valley Project, or CVP, the system of dams and tanks managed by the federal government which provides Delta supplies to agricultural land and communities of the San Joaquin valley.

Numerous agencies that receive CVP water must already receive 100% of their powers, and the American repair office has announced that agricultural irrigation districts south of the Delta will now receive 40% of allowances, from 35% initial, while those who receive water from the Fricant-Kern and Madera canals will receive 100% of their allowances.

The Federal Agency said in a written statement that it sought to “maximize” water deliveries like President Trump recently made in a decree. The major districts of agricultural waters of the Central Valley supported Trump’s order, while environmental defenders have feared that federal efforts to increase the pumping of the Delta will threaten the vulnerable fish species that have already undergone decreases in recent years.

The Bureau of Reclamation said that, acting under Trump’s decree, it “continues to maximize pumping whenever possible in the federal pumping center to move water to certain parts of California where it is most necessary.”

Although the large snowpack and almost complete tanks mean stable water supplies for California for the moment, managers and experts warn that the next drought period could come at any time.

Scientific research has shown that droughts become more intense in the west of the United States due to global warming and that the average snow lines have rampant in the mountains as temperatures increase, modifying runoff models.

In February, scientists noted that the snowpack was significantly smaller in many low -consumption surveillance sites in the mountains after months of temperatures warmer than the average.

This year has also brought a wet snow and conditions in northern California, with less snow and drier conditions in southern California. Tuesday, the snowpack was 118% of the average in the north of Sierra Nevada, 91% of the average in the center of Sierra and 84% of the average in the south of Sierra.

Daniel Swain, a climatologist at the UCLA, said in an article on social networks after the start of Tuesday’s cold time system, “Spring will seriously start in California”, with much drier and warmer conditions in the coming days.