November precipitation in Carson basin way below average

According to figures released today by the National Weather Service, the second month of the water year starting Oct. 1 was worse than the first.

Slightly more than a quarter of average moisture fell in the town of Minden during the month, with .23 inches total precipitation for the month. Gardnerville had .38 inches during the month.

More importantly, the snow sensors in the Sierra, where snowmelt feeds the Carson River basin, have registered less than an inch at Monitor Pass, Poison Flat and Spratt Creek. Ebbetts Pass is only registering an inch, which is far below the 7.09 inches that should have fallen by now.

The Sierra receives most of its moisture in December, January and February and it's impossible to tell from one month to the next what's going to happen. The long-range forecast is planting us in the slightly less precipitation column as opposed to the northwest which is predicted to be above average thanks to a La Nina. There's a lot riding on the storm that's rolling in on Thursday.