Spring on Hold in the Sierra; More Snow on Way

The Sierra got a blast of snow on Monday, while scattered thunderstorms were expected in the Central Valley.

A storm packing winds gusting up to 45 mph dumped several inches inches of snow on the mountains above Lake Tahoe on Monday, with more snow forecast in the upper elevations by Tuesday.

This most recent blast of winter weather is yielding some impressive snowfall totals for this time of year, NBC Bay Area's Rob Mayeda said.

Mayeda points out the most recent snow survey on 4/12 by the California Dept. of Water Resources as proof:

Percentage of average to date & water equivalent:  Northern Sierra: 144%  39", Central Sierra: 104% 30", Southern Sierra 119% 30", Statewide: 120% and 33"

These are some of the best totals year to date we've seen in the last four years, but the other side of the equation is our reservoir system in the local Santa Cruz mountains that are around 60-65% of average as of the weekend.  While far from capacity that is a substantial recovery from three years of drought, Mayeda says. 


Some area ski resorts started closing over the weekend, but several remain open another week or two. Alpine Meadows on Tahoe's west side doesn't plan to close until May 16.

The snow level remained at about 4,000 feet elevation.

Occasional thunder and lightning were forecast Monday afternoon for the Central Valley.

From Sunday though about midday Monday, more than two-thirds of an inch of rain fell in Sacramento, while Grass Valley received 1.62 inches. San Francisco saw 1.39 inches of rain.

This article originally appeared on KCRA.com

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