The East Fork of the Carson River was running 92 cubic feet per second going over the Old Power Dam where it enters Carson Valley on Thursday morning.
Photo by Kurt Hildebrand.
The first third of January hasn’t contributed much to the Sierra snowpack, with each passing dry day seeing a decrease in snow-water equivalent compared to median.
The snow-water equivalent at Carson Pass dropped from 119 percent on Jan. 4 to 85 percent of median on Saturday. Neither the actual snow depth nor the snow-water equivalent changed much over that time, with 11.5 inches of moisture locked up in almost a yard of snow.
But with a lack of precipitation in the forecast over the next week, that’s going to increase the deficit during what is typically one of the wetter months of the year.
Ebbetts Pass at the top of the East Fork has similar indications, dropping from 103 percent on Jan. 4 to 84 percent on Thursday.
“Due to the rain, lower elevation SnoTels are below normal across the state,” according to the Jan. 1 Nevada Water Supply Outlook Report issued by the Natural Resources Conservation Service. “Valleys are also well behind normal for snowfall.”
Telemetry at Spratt Creek, which is located at 6,063 feet in Pleasant Valley west of Markleeville, has an inch of snow on the ground on Saturday morning with a fifth of an inch of moisture. That’s just 7 percent of median.
A lack of rain during October allowed soils to dry out across the region. That coupled with fluctuating rain-snow levels in November and December resulted in run-off instead of saturation, bringing the Carson River Basin down to 91 percent of median as of Saturday.
The Walker River Basin was at 90 percent on Saturday morning.
Monitor Pass had 26 inches of snow containing 6.3 inches of moisture to bring it to 109 percent of median.
The Truckee River Basin, which includes Lake Tahoe, was at 103 percent of median. Heavenly Valley snow telemetry indicates 27 inches of snow containing 7.9 inches of moisture for 89 percent of median.
Results are unlikely to improve over the next week with the 8-14-day weather outlook with below average chances of moisture forecast across the West.
All of Douglas County is divided between moderate drought and abnormally dry conditions as of Tuesday, with drought conditions across the northeastern portion of the county, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.
