{"id":198794,"date":"2026-02-01T11:53:28","date_gmt":"2026-02-01T19:53:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/?p=198794"},"modified":"2026-02-01T11:54:42","modified_gmt":"2026-02-01T19:54:42","slug":"dry-january-cuts-into-early-season-snowpack-gains","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/?p=198794","title":{"rendered":"Dry January Cuts into Early-Season Snowpack Gains"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sacramento, CA…The Department of Water Resources (DWR) conducted the second snow survey of the season on January 30 at Phillips Station. The manual survey recorded 23 inches of snow depth and a snow water equivalent of 8 inches, which is 46 percent of average for this location. The snow water equivalent measures the amount of water contained in the snowpack and is a key component of DWR\u2019s water supply forecast. Statewide, the snowpack is 59 percent of average for this date.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
The California Department of Water Resources (from left) Snow Survey and Water Supply Forecasting Unit Manager Andy Reising, Engineer Jacob Kollen and Hydrometerologist Angelique Fabbiani-Leon conduct the second media snow survey of the 2026 season at Phillips Station in the Sierra Nevada.\u202fThe snow survey is held approximately\u202f90 miles east of Sacramento off Highway 50 in El Dorado County.\u202fPhoto taken January 30, 2026.
Sara Nevis \/ California Department of Water Resources<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Three weeks ago, the snowpack was 89 percent of average after a series of atmospheric rivers provided relief from a slow start to the snowpack. A dry January, which is historically the wettest month of the year in California, has now eroded the gains made at the start of the year and forecasts currently show no major precipitation in the next two weeks.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter the storms at the start of the year gave way to warm, dry conditions, those early gains we saw have flatlined or slightly eroded,\u201d said Andy Reising, Manager of DWR\u2019s Snow Survey\u2019s and Water Supply Forecasting Unit. \u201cRecent California winters have seen this pattern of long, dry and warm stretches interrupted by intense storms. We are now two-thirds through what should be the best snow-producing months of the year. While there is still time for February and March to deliver additional snow, the farther into the season we get with below average conditions, the harder it will be to catch up.\u201d<\/p>\n

DWR\u2019s electronic readings from 130 stations placed throughout the Sierra Nevada indicate that the statewide snowpack\u2019s snow water equivalent is 9.7 inches, or 59 percent of average for this date, compared to 67 percent on this date last year. On average, the largest snow-producing months in the Sierra Nevada are January, February, and March.<\/p>\n

While the state has experienced a recent dry spell, major reservoirs statewide are currently 126 percent of average thanks to recent precipitation on top of three consecutive years of above-average snowpack conditions, as well efforts by California to capture and store as much water as possible.<\/p>\n

On average, the Sierra snowpack supplies about 30 percent of California\u2019s water needs. Its natural ability to store water is why the Sierra snowpack is often referred to as California’s \u201cfrozen reservoir.\u201d Data from these snow surveys and forecasts produced by DWR\u2019s Snow Surveys and Water Supply Forecasting Unit are key factors in determining how DWR manages the state\u2019s water resources. Snowpack runoff forecasts drive many water management decisions including State Water Project allocations.<\/p>\n

DWR conducts four media-oriented snow surveys at Phillips Station each winter near the first of each month, January through April and, if necessary, May. The next survey is tentatively scheduled for March 2.<\/p>\n

For California\u2019s current hydrological conditions, visit https:\/\/cww.water.ca.gov.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sacramento, CA…The Department of Water Resources (DWR) conducted the second snow survey of the season on January 30 at Phillips Station. The manual survey recorded 23 inches of snow depth and a snow water equivalent of 8 inches, which is 46 percent of average for this location. The snow water equivalent measures the amount of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":198795,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_cbd_carousel_blocks":"[]","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,5,1,32],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-198794","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-government","category-news","category-weather","last_archivepost"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/SN2_9018-scaled.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/198794","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=198794"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/198794\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":198798,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/198794\/revisions\/198798"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/198795"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=198794"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=198794"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=198794"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}