Another Pacific storm brings snow to more unusual levels by Philip Avery
The latest in a series of Pacific weather systems has brought unsettled weather to many parts of western USA, including some of the white stuff to desert areas of California and Nevada.
All of California saw rain or snow showers on Friday, and the snow fell to low levels in the San Francisco Bay Area for a time, prompting officials to close some roads. While snow isn’t rare in higher parts of the state in March, it is rare at lower elevations in southern California. The hills around Los Angeles and San Diego saw a covering on Friday.
Residents of Las Vegas in Nevada were also surprised to see snow falling on Friday. By the time the storm moves away later this weekend, the slightly higher western end of the city could see anything up to five inches of snow, according to the National Weather Service. Another Nevadan city, Carson City, has already seen 15-25cm (6-10 inches) of snow fall.
The series of Pacific storms has now dumped up to 3.4 metres (11 feet) of snow in parts of the Sierra Nevada range above Lake Tahoe, in the ten days since the beginning of the month. The average snowfall for the whole March in higher elevations is only 2.3m (7.5ft). It is good news for the ski industry, as the storms have helped to create a long, above-average spring skiing season in the Sierra Nevada.
It is also good news for those in California and Nevada who depend on the snowmelt from the Sierra for irrigation and drinking water. The snowpack in the Walker River basin is currently at 137% of normal, and unless it turns very dry from now on, there will be plenty of water in the system ready for summer.
Water is much needed in Arizona, suffering from severe drought conditions. In Phoenix, no measurable rain has fallen since 18th October 2005, meaning that they’ve seen 143 dry days in a row. Forecasters suggest the weather system could finally bring them the liquid gold they’ve missed, with suggesting an all-day soaking on Saturday could bring an amount of rain not seen since 2nd August 2005, when 1.5cm (0.59in) fell in the city.
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