…snowpack, drought, sea level rise, more frequent and intense wildfires, heat waves, more severe smog, and harm to natural and working lands, and these effects are already being felt in…
Snowpack Melts Early Across the West
…from remote sites to develop the water supply forecasts. The April 1 Snowpack Map shows the dramatic, early reduction in snowpack across the West. NRCS monitors conditions year-round and will…
Gov. Brown Directs First-Ever Statewide Mandatory Water Reductions
Following the lowest snowpack ever recorded and with no end to the drought in sight, Gov. Edmund G. Brown Jr. announced actions that will save water, increase enforcement to prevent…
Farm Leader: Emerency Legislation Underscores Drought Crisis
…have the reservoirs in place to capture more of those heavy rain flows, especially if we can’t count on the Sierra snowpack. This winter, millions of acre-feet of water flowed…
Governor Brown, Legislative Leaders Announce $1 Billion Emergency Drought Package
…are no longer needed.” The Sierra Nevada snowpack, which Californians rely on heavily during the dry summer months for their water needs, is at a near record low. The March…
Low Water and Snowpack Level Concerns
Photo by Len Wilcox USDA meteorologist, Brad Rippey, talks about the concerns of low water and snowpack levels in the west. Low Water and Snowpack Level Concerns…
State Water Project Deliveries Increased Slightly
…measurements of the Sierra Nevada snowpack. Electronic readings show the mountain snowpack statewide stands at just 19 percent of typical water content for this time of year. That snowpack typically…
USDA: Slow Snowpack Development for Much of the West
Cascades, Sierra Nevada Extremely Dry An unusually warm, dry January slowed snowpack accumulation in much of the West, according to data from the second 2015 forecast by the United States…
State and Federal Officials to Disscuss Drought Operations With California State Board of Food and Agriculture
…said CDFA Secretary Karen Ross. “With our current lack of significant precipitation and snowpack, this could be an extremely challenging year for our state’s farmers and ranchers.” In 2014 California…
Western Mountain Snow-Pack Forecast
USDA meteorologist, Brad Rippey, recaps the latest Western mountain snowpack forecast – the first for 2015. Western Mountain Snow-Pack Forecast…
Not Enough Snow-Pack in Northern Cascade Range
…this winter in the Washington and Oregon Cascade Mountains so far, but what does it mean for spring runoff potential? Rod Bain reports. Not Enough Snowpack in Northern Cascade Range…
First USDA Forecast Shows Normal Water Supply Forecast for Much of the West
…Nevada are experiencing prolonged drought, focusing attention again on the winter snowfall. “Right now, snowpack and streamflow forecasts look pretty close to normal for much of the West,” NWCC hydrologist…
Experts Predict Growing Uncertainty for Water Supplies
…for climate change underlines the need for additional water storage in California. “Seventy percent of our water storage has been in snowpack in high mountain reservoirs,” he said, “so as…
Weekly Water and Climate Update
The National Water and Climate Center produces this weekly report in cooperation with the National Drought Mitigation Center and other Federal agencies. The report focuses on snowpack, precipitation, and temperature…