Carson basin snowpack at 136 percent

A daily reported issued by the Natural Resource Conservation Service showed the Carson River Basin's snowpack is 136 percent of average on Friday.

The Snow-Precipitation Update based on data from the service's snow telemetry, shows that snow pack feeding four Sierra east slope river basins is well above average for the year, with the Truckee showing 124 percent, Lake Tahoe at 136 percent and the Walker River at 114 percent of average for this time in the water year.

While only the Walker River received above average precipitation for the water year that begins on Oct. 1, a cool wet spring has helped keep the snowpack frozen.

There is still 63 inches of snow at Ebbetts Pass, 22 inches more than there was on Jan. 1, 2010.

"April was a fairly cool and wet month for most of Nevada and eastern California," a May 1 report by the Natural Resources Conservation Service said. "Several strong storms came through the state and added much needed precipitation to the area."

Singled out in the report was the Walker River Basin, which received a fraction less than double of its average precipitation.

Last week's storm dropped an additional 9 inches of snow at the head of the Carson River.

Meanwhile, in Carson Valley, Minden has received 9.27 inches of moisture since Oct. 1, according to weather watcher Stan Kapler. Minden averages 8.38 inches of moisture for the entire year.

According to the Conservation Service's May 1 water supply outlook, "Western Nevada should get a break from a three-year dry spell."

The Carson River Basin received 167 percent of its average precipitation during April, according to the May 1 report.